Friendly Competition

[6] Winter Holidays

In the week leading up to Christmas, Harry's spare time was mostly filled with talking to Draco.

Of course, only the spare time in between all the marking essays, occasional visits to Hagrid's hut, several Floo calls (a couple to Teddy and Andromeda, one to Ron and Hermione, and another to Molly and Arthur), and frantically assuring that he had Christmas presents for everyone.

Harry was reluctant to admit it, but since there were no classes over the break, it was getting more difficult to keep up the pretence that he and Draco talked solely to brag to each other, and their conversations were slowly starting to slide in an unsettlingly regular direction.

He had mostly settled in to calling the other teachers by their given names by now, but it still felt too strange to think of them as equals when most of them had been teachers when he was a student, and the few who hadn't were old enough to have been. He tried to be friendly, but he couldn't help just being distantly cordial. For now, at least, anything more personal just felt too weird to him, and he suspected Draco felt the same, if his similar behaviour was any indication.

So, he supposed he was stuck with Draco for now, looking up and wondering from time to time how it was he got here, chatting amicably with Draco bloody Malfoy about the Ministry Of Magic actually seeming competent for once under the current administration, or the outlook for their favourite professional Quidditch teams this year, or how Neville may be returning to his post as Herbology professor next year, or any other given mundanity. Wondering and perhaps thinking he may have gone a bit mad.

If he had gone mad, though, at the very least it seemed to have spared every other facet of his life, so he probably couldn't complain too much.

~*~

On Christmas Eve, he sent off a few poor, overburdened school birds with gifts for Hermione, Ron, the rest of the Weasleys, Andromeda, and Teddy, since he had already long sent his gifts to Luna and Neville in an attempt to ensure they made it all the way to South America by Christmas.

Then, after dinner, he made his way through the snow to Hagrid's hut.

"Harry!" Hagrid greeted him jubilantly, flinging the door open almost as soon as he knocked. "Oh, yeh didn' have ter do tha'," he said, when Harry offered up the lumpy parcels in his hands toward him. "Come in, come in, let's sit down, I'll put the kettle on. I've got a present fer yeh as well."

Harry followed him inside and sat down, laying the gifts on the table as Hagrid busied himself making tea.

"Did yeh talk ter Ron an' Hermione today?" Hagrid asked, while the kettle heated over the fire.

"Yeah, they're doing well. They said to tell you happy Christmas."

"Good, good, tell 'em I said so too," Hagrid said, setting out two teacups on the table and spooning in some tea leaves. "They sent me a real nice bottle o' firewhiskey, an' I wish I could thank 'em in person fer it instead o' jus sending a measly owl. Sometimes I miss jus having yeh three kids still up there in the castle, but times change quick, an' I suppose there's some pretty good tradeoffs ter be had here too if we don' have ter worry abou' You-Know-Who hanging over our heads anymore!" He chuckled.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Sometimes I miss it too, but then I remember all the stress I'm conveniently forgetting and I'm like, right, no, this is quite nice, actually."

Hagrid let out a louder guffaw as the kettle started whistling, and he pulled on an oven mitt to grab it off the fire and bring it over to pour some water into each cup.

"Thanks," Harry said, as Hagrid passed him his cup.

"O' course! Hold on, I've got some biscuits too!" Hagrid went over to the (presumably now cold) oven of his wood stove and took out a plate of slightly burnt, uneven, star-shaped biscuits dusted in icing sugar, and brought them over to set on the table in front of Harry. "Made 'em fer Christmas; trying ter be seasonal an' all tha'. Get in the Christmas spirit, yeh know!"