A special thanks to Verdedracul, I've updated! Thank you as well to everyone else which has followed and favourited in the past week, you keep me smiling. Have a bit of unseasonal festivities! I do love writing for Dobby, he shall not die, he never dies.

Christmas day dawned bright and cold. Snow had continued to fall over the last few days until the whole grounds were blanketed in glistening wonder. The forbidden forest looked more of a wonderland than the home to some terrifying creatures, and the lake was close to freezing. They might even get to ice skate this year. As had become tradition, Ron woke Harry with another hand knitted jumper already on, a pale, faded red that clashed with his hair.

"Come on mate, you're gonna miss the present opening!"

"Looks like you started without me. " Drowsily, Harry pulled on his glasses and caught the present coming his way just in time, opening it as Ron spoke.

"Only my jumper, its cold. Let's get down to the common room, I'm pretty sure I heard the girls a few minutes ago." Harry pulled his new jumper over his head, a green one with a gold H on it that matched the colour of his eyes, and followed Ron.

Ginny and Luna were sat in the stiflingly warm common room. They had clearly loaded extra logs onto the hearty fire. Sat on the couch next to them was an ecstatic Dobby. He was practically buzzing.

"Dobby has bought Mister Potter a present!" Clutched in his outstretched hands was a badly wrapped ball. A little apprehensive after remembering last year's maggots, Harry reached out to take it. It was an ugly little china cup with faded flowers on the side. "Dobby bought it with his own wages sir. He wents to Diagon Alley himself!"

"Thank you Dobby, this is very kind. I have something for you too actually. Hermione knitted this." Harry rummaged through the pile of presents to find the brightly coloured jumper Hermione had left there. Holding it out, Harry was unsurprised to see that Dobby was crying.

"Mister Potter and Miss Granger are most kind! Giving Dobby a Christmas gift!" And with that the little elf flung himself at Harry and hugged tightly. After a few minutes to calm down he continued. "Dobby must return to the kitchens sir! He will cook you and your friends the best Christmas dinner ever!" And with that the house elf vanished with a crack.

"Well... um that was an interesting way to start the day, though I noticed I didn't get thanks. After all, I bought the wrapping paper." Ron said into the silence that followed. Then a smile appeared on his face as the other inhabitants of the room promptly fell about laughing. After calming themselves down they settled on the comfiest sofas by the fire and began the present opening ritual.

Ron began by unwrapping his present from Hermione which was an orange Chudley Cannons scarf. Ginny received a pretty silver bangle, and Luna got a book of bizarre wizarding facts. Harry opened his own neatly wrapped present and found an expensive looking set of muggle fountain pens with ink cartridges. He supposed it was to stop him making such a mess of his work with the ink. Ron found it quite fascinating having only used normal quills before, and used up one of the cartridges in no time at all. "You know Ronald," Ginny remarked, "I think that's the most writing I've ever seen you do."

They worked their way through the pile of gifts until they had each gained an edible mountain of treats and other goodies. Luna reached under the tree to retrieve the last gift. She passed it towards Harry, and he inspected it.

The parcel was quite small and carefully wrapped in dark green. The label contained only one word in a slanting scrawl. Potter. Very cautious now of what might be contained within, he pulled open the paper. It was a bag of Fizzing Whizzbees, Harry's favourite. Tearing the paper a little more he found a note.

Thanks for staying quiet, D.M

"What you got there mate?" Ron said, leaning to take the note. Harry snatched it away at once. Taken aback, Ron continued. "Come on, what is it? Some gushing love confession?"

"No, no it's nothing." He quickly tucked the note into his jean pocket. "We ought to head down to the great hall." Harry stood and prepared to leave while the others just looked confused. Apart from Luna. She was grinning serenely. He would have to talk to her later, she seemed to know more about what was going on than he did.

Harry was too lost in his own thoughts to consider joining their conversation on the way down. A gift from Draco had been the last thing he'd expected, and whilst it was just something small it was his favourite. That lead to the question, how did he know? Should he have sent something back? Was it too late?

After deciding that it was in fact not too late to send a gift back he moved onto the next few questions. How? And more importantly, what? Hedwig could easily take the gift, but he had no way out of the castle to buy anything. He would have to get inventive.

"Harry are you even listening to us?" Ron's brash voice interrupted Harry's train of thought.

"Sorry, I zoned out. What were you saying?"

"We were discussing what food would be on offer. I'm hoping for some of that pumpkin stuffing they did last Halloween." Luna gazed dreamily off at the memory, humming softly to herself.

"And some of those raspberry things for pudding! I could eat a whole tray myself!" Added Ginny.

"I'm sure Dobby would work his brand new socks off to get you anything you still wanted." Even as Harry said it, the idea was forming in his head. The house elves could come and go as they pleased, maybe if Harry asked him to, Dobby would go to Diagon Alley for him. He could just hope someone would be doing trade at this awkward time.

The small spattering of students shared a table with the Hogwarts staff in the centre of the great hall. Peeves was zooming in and out with great handfuls of snow to deposit upon people's heads while they weren't looking and there was some classical music from Dumbledore's collection playing in the background. It was and amazing atmosphere, but even that paled into bleakness next to the food. Harry could feel himself salivating over the magnificent feast before him. Dobby and the house elves really had pulled out all the stops.

He and Ron dove in with next to no manners. Hearing a small snort from across the table Harry looked up. Draco was smiling and trying not to look him in the eye. Harry smiled too and continued eating in a slightly more refined fashion.

Throughout the meal and cracker pulling, Malfoy continued to hide his eyes. If Harry caught him looking his way for even a second that others eyes had snapped away to look at something else. Harry didn't really mind though, it was almost cute in an odd way. Endearing may have been a better word really. Seeing him acting that way reminded Harry of his quest to find a present. He didn't think anything like chocolate would really mean much as he had no idea what the Slytherin liked. He wanted something the other would find amusing, but he couldn't risk offending him. It was quite a riddle.

Harry was so engrossed in his thoughts that he was yet again oblivious to his surroundings. Thus he missed the zooming noised headed his way until it was too late, ice cold water dribbled down the back of his robes as a great handful of snow collided with his head. Peeves vanished again, cackling madly.

Laughing and shivering, Harry tilted his head back to ruffle off the snow. There were also great roars of laughter coming from the three Slytherins on the other side of the table.

"Shut it Malfoy." Ron growled. Harry looked just in time to see the softness of laughter leave Draco's eyes and turn steely. Harry nudged Ron's leg and shook his head, ignoring the confused glance he received back.

"I'm just going to go grab a dry jumper." With a nod towards the teachers he left. Once safely away from the great hall he called out for Dobby. He had briefly considered sending Kreacher, but thought he was less likely to find what Harry wanted without upsetting a few shop owners, and arguing with Kreacher might draw attention to him, and his plan.

The little house elf appeared before him.

"Mr Potter sir, you called?"

"I did. Do you think you could do me a favour, Dobby?"

"Oh yes Mr Potter! What do you want Dobby to do?"

"I forgot to get a present for a friend. Do you think you could help me? I'd like to get them a sneakoscope, do you think you could apparate to some shops and ask politely? Don't tell them it's for me, that'll just make a fuss. I'll give you some gold." Dobby looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I think I know where Dobby might find such an artefact! He would be most honoured to do this for you Mr Potter. Most honoured." Harry felt a weight lift off his chest and dug into his pocket for some coins. He handed over nine gold Galleons. It was more than the elf would probably need but he thought he was better safe than sorry. He could always gift the rest to Dobby as a way of thanking him. With a loud crack the house elf vanished again and Harry continued up to the common room.

By the time he returned to the great hall in a different one of Mrs Weasley's sweaters there was a game of exploding snap taking place between Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout. Ron informed him that they were competing over a rather fetching hat which had come from the cracker they had both pulled.

Harry smiled and relaxed into the rest of the celebrations.

.

.

Harry was starting to get nervous. It had just gone eight and Dobby still wasn't back. He was sat alone in his dorm reading the book he had taken from the restricted section a fortnight ago. Draco had been interested at something within these pages; Harry was thus far unable to find anything interesting what-so-ever.

A book entitled Defensive Objects for avoiding the Dark Arts hardly seemed like a book which would help plot dark stuff. It contained information about spotting false protective artefacts and some protective foods that could supposedly help survive some curse or other. There was a section on vanishing cabinets and portkeys too.

He closed the book. Maybe Draco had been looking at a different book after all. Harry let out a deep sigh. He hoped the Dobby would return soon or the chances of him finding Hedwig in the owlery would be slim. Closing his eyes he waited in the silence. There was nothing he could do now but wait.

Crack!

The side of Harry's bed dipped as he came to with a start. Dobby was stood by his feet clutching a black box. He looked very pleased with himself.

"Dobby found one, Mr Potter!" Harry took the offered box and removed the lid. Inside was an expensive looking sneakoscope made from silver. It was nothing like the cheap one Ron had bought him years ago. This one was delicate looking with an intricate pattern on the metal.

"It's perfect Dobby. Thank you." Harry gave Dobby a small hug. "Was there any change?"

"No sir, Dobby had to spend it all." He reached for the purse next to his bed and pulled out a couple of knutts. He pushed them into the elf's hand at which point he burst into tears and had another hug. Not wanting to seem mean, but now in a hurry, Harry detached himself from the sobbing elf and thanked him once more.

"Thank you Dobby. I've got to go give it now."

"Of course sir, of course!" With another Crack! He was gone. The time on his clock read just after ten. He still had plenty of time. Using one of his new ink pens, Harry wrote a small note to Draco. Once the ink was dry he folded it and put it into the black box. Pulling on the invisibility cloak and after tucking the map back into an inside pocket he headed off to the owlery.

Once out of the common room he travelled at a run, suddenly full of energy. He took the steps two at a time, reaching the owlery just minutes after leaving the common room. Hedwig was not there. He felt his stomach drop all at once. It wasn't like he could wait for the bird to return as Christmas would be over by then. He needed another plan.

Harry pulled out the map. Maybe if Draco was back up on the astronomy tower or something he could deliver it in person. With the relative emptiness of the castle it didn't take him long to spot the footprints he wanted. The trouble was, Draco wasn't alone. He was in one of the dungeon classrooms with Snape. There was no way he could give the gift with Snape present. Still, they would have to leave the room sooner or later.

Harry left the owlery, doing more of a jog than a run this time. He glanced at the map periodically and was just passing the Great Hall when he realised the Draco dot was on the move. He was headed away from Harry, towards the Slytherin common room. Harry began sprinting again. He had to stop and dive into an alcove as Snape passed losing valuable time.

Panting hard, Harry rounded the corner in time to hear Draco say "Salazar." and pass through the stone wall. Cursing at himself, Harry debated his options.

I could just leave it 'til tomorrow, send it with Hedwig in the morning. Or I could ask Dobby to take it in. No he wouldn't want to go near Malfoy. I could go in. I'd be screwed if anyone saw me, but there are only three of them here now. It's worth the risk.

With that Harry muttered the password and stepped though the wall. The common room within was just how Harry remembered it from his one previous visit. The room was bathed in greenish light with leather sofas next to the fire. Walking silently into the room he saw Malfoy headed up the stairs at the back. Slipping passed Crabbe and Goyle who were sprawled on the sofas, Harry followed him. Down a corridor off the stairwell was the blonde boy, hand on the doorknob to one of the dorms.

"Draco!" Harry whispered the other boy's name at the same time as it echoed up the stairs. "An owl just arrived for you." Draco's slender hand slipped from the doorknob and he sighed as he went to head back down stairs. Harry flattened himself into a doorway feeling his heart contract as Draco's eyes(body?) slid right past him. Footsteps echoed away and Harry was left alone.

Facing the door he knew he ought to leave the box just there. The temptation to look in was just too great however. Biting down on his lip, Harry reached out and turned the handle.

The room within was not dissimilar to that Harry slept in. The beds were still four-posters,but lower and wider. They were also dressed in green instead of red. There was a small row of windows around the top of the room showing stars and the green water of the lake almost lapping against them. Harry noticed that one of the walls had a dark ink stain.

Only one of the beds looked lived-in. The sheets were a mess and the chest at its foot was open. Clothes spilled out onto the floor. Harry noticed a few pairs of pants within the mess. They most definitely looked like silk. It made Harry smirk, that was most like Malfoy.

A noise on the stairs made Harry freeze. He didn't have much time and given what Draco had done the last two times Harry had surprised him, he dreaded to think what might befall him if caught. He placed the Sneakoscope onto the bed and slipped out of the room. He had barely closed the door behind him when that familiar blonde hair became visible on the stairs. Harry could feel his heart pounding in his chest and half expected to be caught just because of that. Draco merely opened the door and went into his room however.

Heartbeat in his ears, Harry made a quick escape.

.

.

Draco closed the door behind him and froze. There was a box on his bed, which he had most defiantly not placed there, and it appeared to be emitting an odd sound. Wand out, Draco approached with caution. When poking it with his wand had no effect he carefully removed the lid.

The intricate spiralling object before him was whistling gently, growing quieter by the second. Draco removed it from the box and placed it on his bed side table, a note falling out as he did so.

Maybe you won't hurt me next time we meet? H.P

Draco felt a genuine smile break across his face. The annoyance he had been feeling mere moments ago from his conversation with Snape and letter from home was gone, replaced by a warm soft feeling. Malfoy had thought that sending Potter a gift had been silly, he now could not regret it. The sneakoscope, for he now saw it for what it was, looked expensive. This wasn't something he could just pick up at short notice from Hogsmead, so how had he gotten it? And what's more, how had he got it in here?

Malfoy lent back and smiled. For all of the fine things he owned, he didn't think any of them had ever bought him such pleasure.