Author's Note: These stories are all one-shot, 1000-word responses to the Summer Writing Series Challenge, so each one is not related to
the next.
Summer Writing Series Challenge (June 8)
Challenge: Harry or Hermione receives a (surprise?) gift and then discovers it's from the
other
Title: Little Gifts
Word Count: 999
What a week! Ever since Harry had joined the Ministry Aurors, life had gotten crazier than it had ever been before.
Even when Voldemort was on a mission to rid the world of Harry Potter, it had somehow seemed less hectic than it was
now. For the last three days, Harry had been on the trail of a supposed Death Eater and he didn't feel any nearer
to catching her today than he did on Tuesday.
His one salvation was knowing that his wonderful wife would be waiting for him when he got home that evening. She had taken a few days off from her own job, and he was looking forward to spending a relaxing Friday night with her. As he gathered his things for work and kissed her goodbye, he silently hoped that he wouldn't have to work late that day.
With nothing but his current case on his mind, Harry arrived at his office early that morning and was completely surprised to find a wrapped gift on his desk, just small enough to fit into his palm. He looked around, half expecting someone to be in the room, but saw no one. There was no tag on the gift, no note, and he debated whether or not he should open it. But reasoning that it wouldn't be on his desk if it wasn't for him, he sat down and opened it. Inside he found a tiny golden snitch, much smaller than standard regulation size.
He had no idea who the gift could be from, and couldn't think of any reason that he deserved a gift. His birthday wasn't for another month and a half, he and Hermione's anniversary had just passed, and the date held no significance that he could think of whatsoever...nor could he figure out why anyone would give him a small snitch.
He set the snitch on his desk, and began to rifle through the pile of papers that had accumulated during the week. Around 10:00 he was startled by the sudden appearance of an energetic, pink-haired witch right in front of his desk.
"Wotcher, Harry!" she said excitedly. "Get your robe and come with me!!"
"Where are we going?" he asked, jumping up to do as she said.
"We've found her."
He smiled, and with a crack they were gone. Just under two hours later they returned to the Ministry, Death Eater apprehended, and very happy to have another case closed.
"I'll make you a deal, Tonks...I'll do the paperwork if you take her from here."
"Deal, Harry," she said with a wink and a nod. "Have a good weekend then."
"You too," he said, waving as he headed to the elevator.
As he turned the corner into his office, he was shocked to find another gift waiting for him. It was around 3 feet long and wrapped in brown paper, and the shape was strangely familiar. As before, there was no tag and no note. Harry opened the package and found a very small broom - a Moonbeam 300. Thoroughly puzzled by the miniature Quidditch supplies, he set the broom aside and got to work on his paperwork, occasionally glancing at the gifts with curiosity. Anytime one of his coworkers would pass by, he'd ask about the mysterious presents, but no one confessed to knowing anything about them.
When the day was over he gathered his things, and picked up the little snitch and Moonbeam, wondering how to explain them to Hermione. If nothing else, perhaps she would be able to solve the mystery, as she had proven so good at this feat time and time again. Of course, that was if she wasn't in on the joke…she and Ron were quite good at catching him off guard these days.
Harry Apparated straight home and felt great comfort in knowing he had the whole evening to spend with his wife. But as if the day hadn't been filled with enough surprises already, Harry had barely been home long two seconds when he was attacked from behind. Two small hands quickly covered his eyes and the sweet smell of lavender filled the air around him.
"This better be my wife, or I'll be in trouble for snogging the wrong girl."
The hands moved away from his eyes, and he opened them to find a bushy-haired, brown-eyed woman before him.
"Hello, love," Hermione said, greeting him with a kiss. "Go wash up and come sit for dinner."
Not one to argue with his wife, Harry went upstairs to change and wash up. Still wondering what the story was behind the snitch and broom, he came back down to find the table set, and a gift sitting on his plate.
"What's this?" he asked, sitting down.
"Open it and see," she smiled.
He eyed her suspiciously. "Did you send those other gifts to my office? The snitch and the broom?"
She just shrugged and tried to repress a smile, but Harry knew that meant yes.
"I don't understand."
"Just open it!" she urged.
He opened the little box and found a tiny Puddlemere United jersey (Harry's favorite team) that was just about Dobby's size. He held it up in the air and looked completely puzzled.
"Are you going to explain all this to me? Because right now I'm thinking that either you're telling me I've shrunk, or I've been made captain of the new House Elf Quidditch team."
Hermione laughed. "Well, I just thought you'd enjoy teaching the baby how to play Quidditch."
"Besides," he said, still examining the jersey, "I'll never be able to get Winky up on a broom, she's scared of heights, you know…." Harry froze mid-sentence. "The...baby? Did you just say 'the baby'??"
She nodded and a smile stretched ear to ear.
"Hermione! That's wonderful!" He jumped up and pulled her into a great hug. "When…? How…? Never mind! We should tell everyone!"
"Not tonight," she said, holding him close. "Tonight's just for us."
Harry smiled and nodded. "Alright. Tonight's for us."