A/N: Really really sorry about the last update… those "boxes" weren't supposed to be a fancy script, but I guess the site doesn't support it… oh well… sorry no new chapter yet…
Chapter 16 - Christmas Spirit
It was still very early when Harry returned to the Hogwarts Castle; seemed like no student was up considering the usual exciting Christmas morning. He was dead tired by the time he had gotten back that as soon as he got to his Head Boy room, he dropped the bags at the door and plopped face first on his bed, trying to take a breather and to decide what he was going to do next.
One thing was for sure: he owed Ernie an apology. The rumor came (or whatever you wanted to call it) from someone Harry did not know. Because of this, he really didn't care what other people thought of him, but he did car about what Hermione thought of him.
He felt a light bump on his bed, which meant that someone or something had just plopped on his bed next to him. He sat up on his bed.
"Hedwig!" smiled Harry, almost giving her a hug. He had to restrain himself as he saw that she still had some bandages on her from the eagle attack. "You're ok!"
"Hi Harry," hooted Hedwig. "Yes I'm fine. I was surprised Madam Pomfrey let me off so early. Knowing her I would've been in there for ages! Probably because Christmas is here and she wanted me to enjoy the holidays…"
"Yeah…" replied Harry half-heartedly.
"What's wrong deary?" asked Hedwig, walking over the him and extending a wing on his arm. Harry couldn't help but smile. Any girl who saw a white owl walk over to a human and put her wing on his arm would make any girl squeal. Harry shook his head; he had the urge to play a hard hitting Quidditch Match all of a sudden.
He told her about everything. From the time he left her in the hospital, to the Christmas Ball, to the argument he and Hermione had, to his trip to Ashley's shop, and back to the Castle again.
"So what are you going to do then?" said Hedwig, perching on top of Harry's arm on one foot.
"I'm going to deliver all my presents to everyone," yawned Harry. Hedwig frowned at him; Harry's answer had not related at all to her question, which meant that something was really bothering him. "You going to stay a while? I need to get this gifts to everyone before they wake up." Not waiting for a reply, he grabbed the first set of gifts from his closet…
***
Time seemed to go by more slowly as Harry played Santa. He walked aimlessly back and forth from his Head Boy room closet to students' dorms quite a few times to deliver presents. Some friends were awake and he left them with the gifts. Others were asleep and he just quietly left the gifts by their bedside. After walking who knows how many miles up and down the halls in the castle, Harry inevitably had to make one final stop…
After knocking a few times, there was no answer at Hermione's door. Why wasn't she answering? She was yelling at me not too long ago. Why won't she answer? Harry tried again.
"Hermione," he called apathetically. "It's me. Can you open up please?" There was no answer. "I know you're mad at me, but can you be mad at me at some other time besides Christmas?" There was still no answer.
Harry sighed and tried turning the door handle; surprisingly, he found it unlocked. He crept the door open with a rusty squeak and peeked his head in.
Hermione was lying on her bed, apparently fast asleep. Harry walked in nervously and quietly closed the door behind him. He couldn't help but stare at her. She was lying on her back and she was covered from her stomach down with her blanket. One arm lay hidden underneath the covers somewhere and the other arm lay flat on her tummy. Her hair cascaded over the pillow and you could see her chest heave up and down with every gentle breath she took. Harry tiptoed to her desk and placed the two bags on top. They made a small rustling sound and Harry shot his head toward Hermione; she adjusted a bit in her bed but she still lay asleep.
Harry remembered what Ashley had told him before he left: "You don't have to say the books are from you…" He thought for a moment and decided to at least make it known that the books were meant for her. What would she think if she found two bags that magically appeared on her desk?
Harry stared at Hermione's desk. Predictably, it was nice and neat. The workspace was clear and everything was in reach. Fresh ink bottles were at hand followed by a Quill holder that looked a lot like those things that Muggles put pens in. Harry cautiously opened a few drawers to find old scratch parchment. After finding one successfully, he put it flat on the desk and "borrowed" a quill and some ink. Just as he settled and was ready to write something, he realized that he had searched so frantically, that he didn't notice the rustling he was apparently making. So much noise in fact that a voice came form his right.
"Harry?" said Hermione lazily, stretching and looking at him with one eye open. "What are you doing here?"
Harry looked at her, disappointed with himself that he couldn't have been quieter, no emotion in his face, though sadness could have been there, to acknowledge that he heard her, but didn't say anything. He stared back at the parchment in front of him, thinking about what he was going to say. He couldn't hide that the books were from him anymore as Ashley had suggested. Hermione sat up in her bed.
"Harry," she said again, her tone getting to that when she was just yelling at him earlier before. "If you're not going to tell me what you're doing in my room at this hour in the morning, I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to leave."
Harry looked at her one more time, only the look he gave her this time was sure to say that he was sorry in one way or another. Before Hermione could say anymore, he sighed, turned back to the parchment, dabbed the quill in the ink bottle, and wrote on the parchment:
Merry Christmas, Hermione
Harry
Satisfied with what he wrote, he dried the ink on the quill, put it back in its holder, closed the ink bottle shut and put it back in its place, and moved the parchment right next to the two bags. He walked to the door in a way you could tell that he was really tired, turned the door knob, opened it slowly, stepped through the doorway and closed the door softly behind him, all without looking at Hermione once, though he could feel her eyes on him the whole time. Whether it was resentment he could not tell, but that didn't matter.
Harry walked back to his room feeling very tired, his feet dragging under him. When he got there, Hedwig was asleep on his desk, which made him want to sleep even more that he didn't bother to change into sleeping clothes. He got the newly framed picture Ashley had given him and placed it on his nightstand right next to his desk. He climbed into bed and angled it so that you could only see the picture if you were laying down in the bed. He smiled, took of his glasses, and placed it next to the picture. He pulled up the covers over his shoulders and closed his eyes. He remembered something else Ashley told him when she suggested he put the frame at that specific spot, "Last person you see when you sleep, first person you see when you wake up"…
Harry drifted very quickly into a deep sleep.