Running

Chapter 13

Christmas Morning:

He was sitting in a small room. Not cramped, but cosy. The room was fairly empty. He sat in the only armchair, a small rug by his feet. A fire crackled in the hearth beside him. The walls had no windows, but there were photo frames. He couldn't tell what the pictures were of, but he knew he liked them. He ignored them though. He sat staring at the door. Someone was coming. He was excited. He didn't know why, or who they were, but he couldn't wait for them to step inside. They - no, she - knocked. He kept staring, she was nearly here. She opened the door and BAM! A pillow in the face.

Harry's eyes blinked open and he pushed the pillow off his face. Damn you, Ronald, I really wanted to see the end of that, thought Harry, though he couldn't exactly place why.

He was brought out of his musings by Ron's gruff voice saying "Oi! Wake up! Presents!" His hair was now only tinged with green at the tips. It seemed the colour would wash out before the new term started; luckily for him, otherwise, if he became the target of bullying it wouldn't have been surprising. It seemed that Ronald was in such a state of excitement that he could only form fragments of sentences, but Harry preferred it that way, it meant they wouldn't have to make conversation. Ron had seemingly decided to allow Neville a few extra minutes of sleep. Lucky, Harry sighed, being Ron's 'best friend' was exhausting.

Harry looked over his presents and noticed that many of them were mostly from the Weasleys. True, he hadn't expected any presents from anyone other than Hermione and potentially a letter from Gringotts, though he didn't assume that it would necessarily arrive on Christmas day, these presents were even more than last time. Perhaps they were trying to lure him into the Weasley clan through this rather than Ron because clearly, that front was failing. Ignoring the stack he had received from them he reached over to a neatly wrapped package that was attached to a small amount of parchment and was signed by Hermione.

To Harry,

I hope you have a fun Christmas! Can't wait to see you again after the holidays - I hope you like this present, it took quite a while to get the charms working but I think I hacked it! It's not just a watch... I wonder if you can figure it out before I get back...

Love Hermione xx

Harry's heart and face warmed as he unwrapped the packaging and saw a black watch. It glinted in the sunlight and the numerals on the face were in small gold metal. On its own, it was rather fetching, but clearly, there was something else to it if Hermione had charmed it. He wanted to figure it out straight away but felt it would probably look suspicious to even the red-headed dunderhead if he started poking and prodding at his own wrist. He flipped it over to see a small HP engraved on the back. He smiled.

"Aren't you gonna start opening them then?" Ron said, mouth stuffed with what looked like his mother's mince pies. It took Harry a moment to realise what it was that Ron was saying

"I am Ronald, or didn't you see me unwrapping this one?" Harry snarked. He knew Ron would be eyeing him and the presents he got like a hawk. Greed is an incredible motivator.
"That bracelet thing? Is that all you got? I bet it was from that weirdo. I know you just keep her around to make her happy but she seems really bad for you. Look how little she cares, bet that cost a knut at best." Harry had heard all these remarks before and though it angered him to hear Ron speak of his best friend in this way, he held his tongue and his wand back. It wouldn't do to attack him and potentially blow his naive golden boy Dumbledore-worshipper cover before it even started. Revenge and violence was not the route for the Boy-Who-Lived take. It would be exacted at a later point. "Bet you're glad that I told mum you wouldn't be expecting presents for Christmas considering that your muggle family hates you. Who else would send you presents?" His laugh turned into a snort.