Day 6:

Draco found himself staring out the window all the next day. It seemed that like himself, his gifter was being very careful to not give hints about themselves. Unless of course it was Weasley, but other than the Wheezes, the gifts were far too out of the red-head's budget. Of course anyone who was anyone could figure out how to sneak out to Diagon Alley while in Hogsmeade. Draco knew he wasn't the only one to do so. The teachers cared some, but they could only do so much to keep a group of kids within the village. Draco had been able to floo there twice already. And his friends would never know. However for today's gift, he'd been able to find some information in a pet shop and as soon as he'd seen the flyers, he knew he had to provide Harry with that option at least once. Today, the pictures would be arriving. Tomorrow, the gift would actually happen.

Draco stared at the poster before him, in awe at the detail of the snakes moving through the trees. This particular organization focused on healing, teaching and releasing snakes in captivity back into the wild. A worthy cause for a Snakes money if he did say so himself. Only, he would not get to see Harry's reaction to the gift. It was getting slightly frustrating at this point. He wanted to keep his friends, but he also wanted to reveal himself. Harry would never truly know Draco's feelings if Draco couldn't bring himself to be braver than he was acting.

Draco sighed and shook his head. He had a reason, many in fact, why he couldn't reveal to Potter who he was. His friends were the least of his worries. Voldemort could find out, but worse, so could his father. If Lucius found out his son was gay,that was one thing entirely. But in love with a halfblood was a worse sin. It was a sin Draco was sure he would have to deal with, but now was not the time. Not while his father was preparing alongside Voldemort to eliminate any impure blood.

Draco found himself shuddering, his heart racing. Who was he to fight against the will of his family. Someone who could lose all respect and all money if he ever so much as looked at Potter with anything but unkind eyes. So far, he'd done decent at pretending to still hate the other. But in truth, he hadn't felt hatred in years. Not since fourth year when he found himself scared as hell of possibly seeing Harry die in one of those challenges. He'd barely been able to keep a straight face. And he'd wanted to rush to Harry's side. He'd not wanted to fight against Harry or the Light side since that year. Almost 2 years had passed and that feeling of dread followed him around, knowing that he would have to choose, money or love. Life of hatred or life unsure? He wasn't sure what the future would provide, either way. And there was a good chance neither he nor Harry would live to see past the war anyways. So Draco had always taken the easy route. Ignore feelings and pretend. He was very good at that by now.

As the day dragged on, he found himself being ignored by his friends. Well, good for them. He didn't need their support anyways. They all figured he'd already figured out who had him anyways. Surely Draco Malfoy could read the gifts enough to figure out who had him, right? Even Pansy had been sure Draco knew. She'd tried bugging him for clues for over half an hour before she'd given up. However when he'd received his gift for that day, he'd been slightly disappointed and unsure. His gift had come by owl like his first gift. However, this one wasn't jewlery. Hell, it wasn't worth the parchment it was written on.

'Malfoy,

I know you have many doubts about your future. I do as well. It is an unsure world right now. In fact, if I didn't know better, I might say you have more to worry about in the long run. However, if this war goes well, I promise you this:

I will honor your decision about me, but hope you will choose to be my friend,if nothing else. I am unsure about what I want out of this. But one thing I am not so unsure about is the ability to see the fear in your eyes. The pain that no one else can see. Your friends don't see that, do they? Well, I do. I hope that when this comes to an end, we will stand together and I will be your friend.'

Draco'd spent all of a minute reading it and more than a minute after burning it. He'd not cared. Not wanted a friend to come out of this. The person could see whatever the hell they wanted to, but he hadn't wanted to hear that they wanted to be friends. So much for high hopes for this event. He found himself bitter at the very thought. Pansy tried to get him to come down to dinner, but he was having none of that. "Drakey-poo, what did they say?" She asked, saddened by his sudden change in behavior.

"Nothing worthwhile." He said and crossed his arms.

Harry found himself biting his lip, watching the Slytherin table with curiosity, while making sure to keep his face down. Hermione tilted her head. "You ok Harry?"

Harry nodded automatically, but regretted doing so as soon as he did. Hermione had a talent for picking up things that she shouldn't. Including the fact that if he could consciously nod to that, he was consciously looking at the Slytherin table. He looked over at her and noticed her smirk. "Don't." He begged silently. She just nodded and continued to eat. Ron frowned, not having paid attention to anything that was happening.

"Don't what bloke?" He asked, looking up at Harry, midchew. Harry shook his head. "Oh, I thought one of the first years was gonna start a food fight. I was warning them against it." He said, to which Ron looked around hoping to catch some kid in the act. The idea of a food fight was not against Ron's morals. Not against Harry's either. He rolled his eyes. Hermione sent a questioning look his way, which Harry ignored.

On their way back to the dorms, Harry caught sight of Pansy and Blaise and frowned. Pansy was on the radar to be Draco's wife one day if Lucius had his way. To see her sharing an interest in another Slytherin meant that she had given up on that idea. Lucius would not be pleased. Draco couldn't be either. If anything, that took one option away for a happy future. Suddenly Harry regretted his gift. To tell Draco that his friends could not see his fears was more truthful now than what Harry had intended. He'd meant it as a fact of trust, but in reality, such a confession would mean Draco would feel as alone as ever. 'What have I done?' Harry asked himself. He had to make some decisions about his own feelings if he wanted to make Draco feel not so alone. Could Harry handle the humiliation of everyone knowing his feelings for the blonde Slytherin? He had a few more days to figure that out.

Harry made his way into Gryffindor commons where most everyone was sitting around watching a game of exploding snaps. "I win!" Yelled a 3rd year. Harry rolled his eyes and smiled. He could handle a lot. A little Slytherin issues weren't going to keep him down. He challenged the 3rd year to a game.

As Harry was heading towards bed, a house elf appeared in front of him. "Mister Potter,sir?"

Harry nodded, a bit dumbstruck. He was handed a bundled package before the House elf disappeared. Inside there was 6 pictures of snakes and a poster. A coral albino snake as well as some others that took his breath away. He found himself staring at the pictures as Hermione and Ron came up the stairs. "You ok mate?" Ron asked, obviously concerned about Harry's well being since he'd stopped on the stairs for no good reason. Harry nodded, but quickly scanned the note that accompanied the pictures.

'My little snake lover,

May I be so bold as to assume you like good deeds? I saw this poster in a pet shop and thought of you. 6 snakes are to be released into the wild with a donation made in your name. A small plaque will be put up in the store to commemorate this, perhaps not so small donation. The snakes have been provided with care, but have been living in captivity. With their support, this organization helps to provide the necessary environment needed to integrate the snakes back into the wild. These snakes will have you to thank for that, because without thinking of you, I might not have given.

I wish I could see your smile, but I am sure I will soon enough.

Your Santa'

Harry could feel the smile the santa had described forming on his face. Was he so predictable that anyone could have known that he'd like that? Perhaps. But he was finding himself smiling more and more thanks to a person who he didn't know. Hermione tilted her head, so Harry handed her the letter to read.

"Damn, they used a non-identity quill to write this." Hermione said, frowning and handing it back. "I guess your gifter is smarter than I thought."

Harry laughed at Hermione. "Did you even read the note?"

She shook her head. "Whatever it was made you smile. I was hoping to know who could make you smile like that, not how." Hermione said in a no-nonsense tone. She smiled brightly at him. "You look like you're in love." She prodded, looking at him in a way that made him blush. He didn't want to tell her that he might be falling for someone else. He'd always been so focused on Draco, that it never crossed his mind that others could like him and not just the idea of him. Most people were scared of how much he liked snakes, not awarded him for it. He shook his head, carefully monitoring his tone. "I'm just happy, that's all." He said.

Hermione rolled her eyes as if she didn't believe him, but let it go. He was glad when he was able to reach his bed. His mind was racing a million miles an hour. He had so much to look forward to in the next few days, but still a couple years to dread. He was going to find a way to focus more on the 12 days and less on the future that came after. That would help to not hurt Draco again, he decided.

Draco finally went to bed around midnight. He'd spent all day in thought. He wasn't about to let one ill-thought note catch him off guard. He was a Malfoy for Merlin's sake. He could care less about what the other person cared about. He was going to focus on Harry from now on. No matter what his giftee got him, he would ignore any implications and enjoy it. Because in the end, there was only 6 more days of gifting. And he was not about to lose out on seeing Harry smile even once.