Ron drifted in the haze of thick fog, above him a cloudy sky stretched endlessly with gray and blue tones mixing together in pillars that looked like smoke. It was cold, the kind of chill that seeped into his bones and brought icy numbness to the tips of his fingers, he found himself shivering. The wind was harsh and whistling, shaking trees and littering the ground with pine needles. Carried in the wind was the faintest sound of laughter.
"Ron!"
The wind calmed, and the clouds thinned.
"Wake up!"
Ron's eyes shot open, the world shifted abruptly, the coldness left him as if it had never existed and his eyes blurred with the light of an early morning sun. He blinked. Leaning over him, barely inches from his face, was Tracey Davis, her dark hair spilling forward as she grinned at him impatiently.
"It's Christmas morning!" She whispered frantically, her excitement seeming to jump from her and land on him. All at once his heart beat faster and his chest swelled with excitement.
He raised his hands to his eyes and rubbed the remnants of sleep from the corners of them. "Merlin's beard, what time is it?"
"Time to wake up!" Tracey answered. "Daphne and Astoria are already awake! Hurry up! Everything looks absolutely amazing!"
Ron pulled himself into a sitting position and then fumbled his way out of his bed, almost tumbling over Tracey as he went.
"How did you get into my room?" He asked through a yawn.
"Elves of course! I just asked them to open the door. Honestly, Ron, I'm supposed to be the half-blood."
The house elves? Blimey, they can just unlock doors? What's even the point of locks?
Ron pulled one of his old jumpers, a burgundy one with a large silver R over his head, before following Tracey out of the bedroom.
The living room at Greengrass Manor had transformed during the night, Ron could hardly believe his eyes. The green carpet had turned to a bright red Christmas hue and the few sofas in the room had been pulled into a half-circle around a large towering tree. The Christmas tree was far grander than any that Ron had seen before, it was as tall as the ceiling; a blue and white Christmas hat sitting at its peak and nearly touching. The tree's branches were covered in shimmering crystals that almost seemed to be melting whilst they shifted from whites to blues to whites again. Behind the tree, on the other side of the half circle, the hearth's orangeish bricks had become a shiny emerald green that swirled in place like giant peppermints. Sitting in the centre next to the base of the tree was a tremendous number of presents all wrapped in various different kinds of papers. Ron couldn't help but smile.
"Ugh, finally!" Astoria huffed from beside Daphne. They occupied three-fourths of one of the sofas whilst Daphne's parents occupied the other.
"A happy Christmas," Aloris said, catching Ron's eyes. He brought a small glass to his lips savouring a thick brown liquid. "Did you sleep well, Ronald?"
Ron nodded and took the seat beside Daphne, Tracey choosing to sit on the floor in front of them. He thought for a moment to offer her the seat, but before he could, Astoria slipped out of her seat to land on the floor beside Tracey.
"Can we open now!?" Astoria asked, looking up at her parents with what Ron assumed were wide doey eyes.
Dianna laughed and nodded gently, reaching a hand into the pile and passing the first present to Astoria. It seemed, to Ron at least, that the Greengrasses were more modest than they looked. Despite the abundance of gifts under the tree most of the ones that were directed towards Astoria or Daphne were sort of boring. Astoria got socks, bows, and a small silver bracelet while Daphne unwrapped new quills and a small book on potions that she accepted with a graceful smile. They weren't the sorts of things Ron had expected, he thought perhaps that there would be one hundred diamonds or enchanted mirrors, rather than things his own parents often bought him and his siblings.
Dianna reached into the pile and took out a small box wrapped in green paper with black streaks. "And, this one, is for Ronald,"
Ron's eyes widened as he accepted the box with one hand, he looked at both Aloris and Dianna. A sudden sharp feeling filled his chest.I'm a bloody hadn't considered that Daphne's parents might have gotten him a gift, and he felt like a fool for not thinking about it. He had been invited to stay in their house over the holidays and hadn't gotten them much of anything.
He smiled sheepishly at Dianna. "I… um…"
Dianna offered him back a kind smile. "It's alright dear, we wouldn't expect anything."
Oh… right… because I'm a Weasley…
"The best gift you can give is making sure our daughter stays safe at Hogwarts, kill as many trolls as you need to," Aloris commented, earning a dark glare from both his wife and Daphne.
"Father!" Daphne hushed. Ron half-expected him to scold her but instead he just laughed and took another sip of his drink.
Ron took a deep breath and dug his finger into the corner of the paper, ripping it off to reveal a small black box that he quickly flipped open. His heart stopped when he did so. Sitting just inside was a small silver ring with a hexagonal green gem that sparkled in the light of the tree. It was the most beautiful thing that Ron had ever laid his eyes on, and he was sure it must have cost a lot of Galleons. He swallowed thickly.
"I… I can't accept this…" he said, although he didn't really believe the words. The ring was the best gift he had ever been given.
Aloris snickered and slicked back his hair. "It's impolite to return a gift, Ronald, I really must insist you have it."
"My husband's right, dear, I picked it specifically for you, after all. Go ahead, touch the top of the gem."
Ron reached out and did as Dianna prompted, watching in awe as the emerald green changed to a bright shade of red.
"To match both sides of you," Dianna said, "and no dear, I do not mean you're a Gryffindor. Only that you're a Slytherin and a Weasley. I tried to get the gem enchanted in just the right colour to match your hair."
"Thank you," Ron muttered, his eyes fixating on the gem. He touched it again gently and it transformed back to green.
"It's very stunning," Daphne said beside him. "It's about time you got something proper to wear."
"I'm sure Theo will be jealous," Tracey added with a short laugh.
Ron took the ring out of the case and pushed it onto his right hand. It felt in place like it fit perfectly and snuggly. He could hardly notice it at all. He offered both Aloris and Dianna another smile and thanked them once again as sincerely as he could.
Ron watched as Tracey opened her gift from the Greengrasses, a large vial of some expensive foreign hair potion that the meaning of was lost entirely on Ron. However, Daphne had leaned over and told him that the bottle cost the same amount as his ring which made him look on in horror as Tracey immediately put some of the concoction into her hair.I don't understand girls, what does that even do!
The same as every year, Ron unwrapped a sweater from his mother and just as she had promised before their meeting with Dumbledore, she had included a tin of cookies. Ron took one on habit and bit into it, before offering one to everyone. Only Astoria accepted, quite pleased with the fact she could avoid having a proper breakfast.
Once Astoria and Daphne had unwrapped everything from their parents, Daphne reached for one of the presents and handed it to Ron. He stared at her almost as intently as he had stared at her parents.
"I didn't get you anything," he almost shit shit I'm such a git!
Daphne just shrugged. "I don't think you'd find something I'd like, besides my allowance is a lot better than yours."
"Daphne gets an allowance!?" Astoria looked up at her mother who smiled back softly.
"But you shouldn't have…" Before Ron could finish the sentence three more presents were pushed into his hands.
"From myself, Theo, and Blaise," Tracey said nodding.
Ron's mouth felt dry. Everyone had bought gifts instead of him? He was probably the worst person in the entire world, or at least, he certainly felt like it.
"Oh!" Tracey shoved another present into his arms. "This one too! From Hermione!"
Ron felt like he might be sick.
"Don't worry about it," Daphne said. "It just means you have to try really hard next year. We all spoke about it anyway, well all of us except… Granger. We didn't expect you to get us anything."
"You didn't?"
"Not because of your family, Ron. Just because you're not used to spending Christmas among purebloods. Or, I mean,properpurebloods. People like my family."
"I know your father well," Aloris added, "I'm sure he's raising all of his kids as well as he can manage. But I also know he works long hours and doesn't get paid nearly as much as he should. That's how most wizards live, I'm afraid. Lucky we are able to afford so many gifts."
Ron looked down at the pile in his arms and set most of them aside except for the one from Daphne. He broke the paper and his thumb hit the grain of a deep red-hued wood. Inspecting the box closely, he realized that he was holding a new magic chess set, the kind that folded in on itself to make a small box to hold the pieces. He offered Daphne a pleased smile and thanked her, promising lightly to get her a really great gift the next year.
"I doubt that," Daphne said but returned the smile.
Next, Ron opened a package that Tracey said was from Blaise. Inside he found a set of new black school robes, the kind that were enchanted to last for a few years and would mend themselves if they suffered tiny rips. Ron cherished the way his fingers ran over the fabric and promised to thank Blaise as soon as he saw him.
Tracey's gift to Ron was nice as well, a set of high-quality quills that although certainly not as expensive as what either Blaise or Daphne had bought him, would be useful for the rest of the year. He thanked her, letting her give him a small hug. It was strange, he thought, that he had so many friends he otherwise wouldn't. He thanked Sal silently in his mind for the magic he had snuck into the founder's ritual.
The second-last package was less of a package and more of an envelope with Ron's name scratched across the front in messy handwriting. Ron broke it open and wasn't really surprised to see that Theo had decided to give him two handfuls of Knuts. Which, Ron might have thought was a funny gift if he wasn't thinking about how he hadn't gotten anything for the rest of his friends.
Finally, Hermione's gift came with a short note thanking him again for saving her life and promising that they would be friends forever because of it. The note brought a smirk to Ron's face that washed away the slight offense he had taken from Theo's gift. Inside the packaging was a large book titled'A Duelist's Guide to Spell Work'. Ron flicked through the first few pages and somehow managed to smile harder. He found Hermione's gift to be the most meaningful, even somehow managing to beat the ring. He couldn't wait to get back to Salazar and start practising some of the spells the book might offer. Still, he was hit with another bout of guilt for the fact that he hadn't gotten Hermione anything at all. He would definitely add her to his list for the following year.
Tracey went next, opening a book of wizarding jokes from Blaise which Astoria quickly'burrowed'to look through and giggled to herself about. Theo had gotten her a small set of potion ingredients which seemed enough nice given that Ron half expected him to get her something dehumanizing because she was a half-blood. And finally, Daphne gave her a small silver bracelet that contained her initials.
Daphne on the other hand received a framed muggle photo of her and Tracey, apparently Tracey had taken it with a muggle camera that her father kept at their house. Ron knew his own father would have appreciated that fact. From Blaise, Daphne's eyes widened as she unwrapped a beautiful gold and emerald necklace that contained one large teardrop shaped stone and a dozen or so smaller emeralds. She cursed quietly, only loud enough for Ron to hear, as she mentioned having spent too little on Blaise's gift.
Ron couldn't help but look over everything and the people around him and feel happy. Despite the worries that awaited him at Hogwarts and the guilt he held for not getting anyone any gifts, he felt like he belonged. He felt like he was truly a Slytherin, and he couldn't help but feel glad that things had happened the way they had. Whatever doubts he still held about being a Slytherin and whatever worries he had about saving his brother, were lost in the warmth and joy of the moment.