Sunday and Monday were uneventful, and Hermione was left regretting the decision to lessen her workload until after the New Year. With the large order for St. Mungo's taken care of, she only had a few smaller orders to fill in the next couple of weeks. This was supposed to be a perk of self-employment, and it usually was, but her planned days of shopping, baking, and decorating weren't taking her mind off the situation with Fred and the secret admirer, if there was one. She still hadn't heard anything else from whoever had sent her lunch.
When she awoke Tuesday morning, it was to the sound of an owl she didn't recognize tapping on her bedroom window. After she let the little creature in, it dropped the parcel that it had carried onto her bed and immediately flew away again, not even bothering to wait for an owl treat.
She turned to examine the package and found a shimmery white box embossed with the insignia of a posh London bakery. It was tied with a blue satin ribbon, and there was an envelope wedged under the bow.
Immediately suspicious, but still curious, she went through the same series of spells that she'd used to check the food delivery nearly a week before. She ripped open the envelope, finding a card nearly identical to the one that had come with her Italian meal. Instead of a Christmas tree though, this one was printed with a silver snowman. Inside was a single line of text...
Fancies for the gorgeous woman that I fancy.
Your Christmas Admirer
Still no real clue to the sender's identity. She knew who she wanted her Christmas Admirer to be, and it did seem like something he would say. It was just corny enough, and there was that word again... gorgeous. Had she really heard him say that, or was it just a lovely dream? She hadn't heard from Fred since that night, which wasn't unusual, but she was feeling a tad bit insecure.
But then, there was still a chance that this was malicious; someone luring her into complacency by sending innocent gifts and waiting for her to let her guard down. Or it could be a crazed stalker. She'd been the recipient of all kinds of attention, negative and positive, immediately after the war. That was one of the biggest reasons she hadn't gone to work for the ministry or done anything in the public eye of the wizarding world.
Harry... she hated to bother him, but it was time. Going to the floo, she threw in a pinch of powder, stuck her head in, and called out his address. She knew that he wasn't supposed to be working today. "Harry, are you home?"
Suddenly he was in front of her. "Hermione? Are you alright?"
"I'm okay. It's nothing urgent, but when you have the time I could use your help. I have a situation that I need you to check into."
"Step back, I'm coming through."
She stood, brushing the soot from her hair; after just a moment, Harry stepped out of her grate. "What's going on?"
For some unknown reason, she felt apprehensive about telling her friend now that he was in front of her. She knew that she should be safe and have it checked out, just in case, but this didn't feel like the stalkers, unwanted admirers, and criminals who had sent gifts in the past. This felt real... but maybe that was just her silly desire for it to be real. With the way her emotions had been out of control the past couple of weeks, could she really trust herself with this?
So, she told Harry everything. By the end of her explanation, he was grinning. Cryptically, he told her, "Give me half an hour. I have an idea that I want to check out. I'll be back." With a kiss on the cheek, he disapparated straight through her wards, the cheeky prat.
True to his word, he returned. Granted it was a little more than a half-hour later and she'd nearly worn a hole in her floor pacing in front of the floo during his absence, but he was back and that annoying grin was still firmly in place. "So, do you know who sent those things to me?"
His grin widened. "Yep."
She waited for him to elaborate, an expectant expression on her face. Finally, she gestured for him to get on with it. "Aren't you going to tell me who it is?"
"Nope, I can't. I've taken a wizards' oath." He crossed his arms over his chest, his expression becoming a little defiant.
"You haven't done the Unbreakable Vow have you?"
"Of course not, but you don't truly expect me to tell. Trust me, what I've agreed to will make what happened to Marietta Edgecombe look like a minor rash. Nope, sorry, you'll have to wait and see."
Hermione sighed deeply. "What can you tell me?"
Placing a hand softly on her arm, he met her eyes, a genuine smile on his face now. "This could be really great for both of you. I can see it truly working out." She started to ask if he could give her a little more to go on, but he just shook his head. "That's all I can tell you, don't bother asking anything else."
