Day 1:
Snape was waiting for supper when he noticed an owl fly towards him. Most students and professors already received their gifts throughout the day. He'd assumed his person had forgotten about him. Then suddenly there was two more owls headed his way. Each dropped a gift in front of him. He reached forward and began to open the first gift and frowned. A box labeled 'condoms' sat in front of him. He shook his head and opened the next. A åchocolate frog card was in the second. He didn't even want to look at who it was. He had near all of the cards already. He rolled his eyes. The third was a box of exploding snaps. As he opened the third gift, a fourth gift and a parchment arrived. He already knew he was an object of humiliation. people were watching him open his gifts. He shook his head and stood up, grabbing the gifts and the parchment and walking swiftly out of the dining room.
Harry frowned. He didn't expect anyone else to try to gift the professor. The only gift from him was the chocolate frog card. He'd had it specially made for the professor and even so, he now wished he'd done more. The professor hadn't even passed a second glance at the card. He could feel his stomach drop and sighed. "I think I am going to head up to bed. I don't think I am getting a gift tonight."
"I'm sorry mate." Ron said with a frown. "But at least you stayed long enough to watch someone pranking Snape. I'm really glad to see that no one took gifting the professor seriously, because he's been nothing but a pain."
Harry nodded, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him. "Yeah, that was… something. I bet he doesn't get anything that great. Barely anything makes him smile."
Harry realized that he couldn't do anything to make the professor happy. And now he just thought he was getting trick gifts. Harry would make up for it. He had to. He also wanted to know who sent those gifts. He didn't like that so many people had made a joke of such an event. Christmas was supposed to be a time for joy and peace. Dumbledore knew that when he set this event up. And Harry had planned to make the best of it. Now he wasn't sure how to make up for what had happened. He'd already bought his day 2 and 3 gifts, but was now rethinking what would make the professor happy. He needed to think on what would be best for himself as well.
"See you guys tomorrow." He said and walked upstairs. He decided he was going to combine his day 2 and 3 gifts and hoped that in that he could see the professor smile. If not… he wasn't sure what he'd do.
Harry reached his dorms quickly and was set to go to bed when he noticed something on his bed. He sat down and picked it up. A thing that looked like a Galleon, except for one difference, it had two heads. 'Interesting, but why?'
Unfortunately for Harry, he didn't get a note to go along with it, or anything else. He frowned. What was the gift supposed to be? He didn't need fake money, that was for sure. Maybe it was a Weasley trick he hadn't seen yet. Then again, he hoped not. He really didn't like the idea that his gifter could be his best friend. Who else would give him a weasley trick? He frowned and suddenly felt bad for Hermione. If Ron hadn't gotten her, she'd be so disappointed. Then again, there was a reason they were such good friends. If Ron was his gifter, he would try to make him happy by mentioning how much he liked the coin and keep it with him. Perhaps the coin could come in handy for making bets.
With that thought in mind, Harry decided he found the gift useful and fun. He placed it on his bedside table and smiled. He would enjoy the twelve days. He'd enjoy gifting his person and receiving gifts as he got them. When Ron came up, he didn't look in Harry's direction, but made his way to bed. It was already a bit late, but perhaps the next day would be exciting. They would have a party in the Gryffindor tower, since they didn't want to overlap with the school's events.
Harry yawned and found himself in thought about Snape. He couldn't believe that they'd come so far in time since the last year. He'd been only fifteen at the time. Now he was 16 and almost considered an adult. He felt like one, with all the responsibility that had been put on him since day one. He knew that Snape had a lot on his plate as well. Harry sighed and caught himself gazing out the window.
Snape sat in the window in his room. He gazed out at the lawn and the stars. He lay back against the windowsill. He'd left his gift on Harry's bed before going down to dinner and then before he'd gotten to the Great Hall he'd had a realization. Harry would never know that the gift was something useful and would be for 6 days. It was only a day 1 gift, but still, he'd never know exactly what it was. Snape had went to the bank to talk to the Goblins about putting money into Harry's account each day. Day 1 was 1 galleon, but it doubled every day. In the end, Harry would have over 65 thousand Galleons. It was Snape's life savings. He knew he'd never have kids or reason to use it. And the idea of giving it to the one person who was important to him, it meant the world to him to do so. Perhaps Harry would hate him for it when he found out, but the Goblins already had their orders to never return any of the Galleons. It would be Harry's as of day 6.
Snape rolled his eyes. He wished he could let Harry know why. Let him know that he trusted enough to know Harry would survive if he had his way. Both of them knew the war was coming nearer and nearer. Snape didn't expect to survive. In fact, he was probably going to be first on the list of people Voldemort would try to kill, but Snape didn't want to think about that. So he set his mind on the black-haired boy who was on his mind a lot since the previous year. A boy who had so much in his lap that he never should have had to deal with.
"Oh, how I wish I could make your life easier." Snape said and lay his head in one hand, closing his eyes.