Secrets

Chapter Six

Rosaphina was gone when Holly woke up. Carter laid beside her, his arms wrapped around her thigh. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. She seemed confused, and her nose was completely stuffed up. Carter drooled on her stomach. She shook his arm lightly. He whimpered.

"Wake up. It's morning."

"N-No." He paused. "Holly. It's Christmas."

"Oh, yeah..."

He smiled at her.

"I forgot. Where do we go?"

"Great Hall!"

"Then let's get going, shall we?"

He nodded. Holly pulled him to his feet, and they headed to the Great Hall. The students who stayed at Hogwarts were having a huge feast. Harry was talking to Rosaphina, both smiling shyly at each other. Marybeth was sitting alone, picking at her food in silence. Duke suddenly sat down beside her. She flinched at the sudden movement, but smiled in embarrassment when she saw him. "H-Hi... Morning..."

"Merry Christmas," he told her, then held out a box.

She took it with a red face. "T-Thank you." She looked down at it. It was wrapped perfectly. She unwrapped it as carefully as she could. Inside was a necklace with a tiny gem. Her eyes widened. "What...?" She lifted it up.

"Do you like it?"

"Yes, yeah, of course...! How much money was this...?" She examined it carefully, staring at it in awe.

"Don't worry about it."

She set the box down, then hugged him quickly. She pulled away with a red face. "Can you help me put it on?"

"Of course."

Marybeth handed the necklace to him. He brushed her hair to the side and hooked it around her neck. Her face had never been so red in her life. Duke, for once, had a small smile on his face.

"Hey," Holly said as she sat down across from them.

"Hi," Duke said.

Holly slid a rectangular box over to Carter, then began eating. He stared at her in confusion before opening it. There were two bracelets inside, which were matching. They were slim, silver bands. He put one on immediately. "Wow, Holly! Pretty!"

She put on the other. "They match."

His smile grew. "Wow..."

Marybeth grinned. "Aw."

Rosaphina was surrounded by presents. She was clearly embarrassed by it. "Oh, bloody hell..."

Holly had none, while Marybeth had two- the one from Duke, and another from her parents. The other was a fluffy blanket. Carter was quietly waiting to give Holly her gift. She had swept all the food from her plate and was stuffed. Carter cleared his throat. "U-Uh... here..." He shoved a rectangular box into Holly's arms. She hesitated before opening it up. Inside was a handmade sweater with a Gryffindor patch. Her eyes widened slightly. "I made it..."

"You made this...?" She looked amazed. He nodded. "It looks great, Carter. I love it. Thank you."

He kissed her cheek shyly. "Merry Christmas..."

Marybeth looked at Duke. "Did you see that?" she whispered so only he could hear.

"Yeah... they like each other."

"I can tell."

He chuckled.

Most of Rosaphina's presents were from her parents, but the rest were from Draco. They claimed to hate each other, but that clearly wasn't the case. Holly knew this, but didn't mention it to anyone. Rosaphina was extremely rude to him when her friends were around, as with him, but shy and sweet in private.