Merely Misunderstood

Chapter Thirteen

The end of term was nearing; we'd already gone through our final trip to Hogsmeade for the year.

Harry had snuck into Hogsmeade this time using his invisibility cloak, and he managed to prank Draco and his goons before revealing himself to us.

The rest of the trip was rather enjoyable, at least, until Harry eavesdropped on Professor McGonagall and Minister Fudge, finding out that not only was Sirius Black a raving lunatic hoping to murder Harry, but he was also Harry's godfather.

Harry was distraught for the remainder of the trip, and none of us blamed him — imagine finding out that your father's best friend was the one who sold them out to You-Know-Who, the one who got your parents killed. Harry then said that he hoped Black would find him, so he could kill him. That was a rather scary moment for Hermione, Ron, and I.

Christmas break finally arrived, and I was invited to stay with the Hollands for Christmas. I took this invitation with great pleasure; I would have hated to go home and face the disappointment that my parents called Christmas.

So I left with Mirah back to London, saying my farewell to my Gryffindor friends, who were staying at Hogwarts this Christmas. The journey back to Mirah's house was rather enjoyable, as were the days leading up to Christmas. Christmas time at the Holland's was hectic, but yet filled with apprehension and excitement.

Mirah and I spent nearly every day shopping for gifts, and we made a point of trying to impress each other with the gifts we bought for our other friends (obviously we wouldn't show the gifts we bought for each other).

We made sure to neatly wrap every gift in the best gift wrap we could find before sending them off to Hogwarts, and hoping that our friends would enjoy what was inside each gift. I could only afford one thing each for my four friends, but Mirah assured me they would be grateful. I hoped she was right; I'd put a lot of thought into the gifts I'd bought them.

I got Hermione a gorgeous necklace, a miniscule quill pendant attached to the delicate silver chain. I bought a new hat for Harry, having remembered him complaining about the cold once he'd lost his old hat, and paired it with a package of Christmas cookies Mirah and I made. For Ron, I'd sort of lucked out — I hadn't been able to find anything for him, and had given up searching. I headed back to the meeting point Mirah and I had agreed on, which coincidentally was right next to a Quidditch shop, and happily picked out an illustrated book titled "Quidditch World Records".

Christmas day arrived, and Mirah woke me up bright and early, practically dragging me out of the guest room and down the hallway into the living room to reveal the Christmas tree, under which multiple beautifully-wrapped Christmas gifts lay.

She shoved at least six of them into my lap before creating her own pile and diving into it eagerly.

She oohed and ahhed excitedly as she tore open one gift to the next, but once she got to the one from me, she fell silent.

I watched her nervously as she stared into the box, her brow furrowed. She reached into the small box and pulled out the silver key inside, looking at it with confusion.

"What's it for?" she asked.

I smiled, handing her another box. "For this."

She took the box from me, ripping it open. As soon as she laid her eyes on what was inside, she gasped loudly, her eyes widening.

"You didn't!" she exclaimed, grinning. She pulled out the mini chest, shoving the key into the lock.

I giggled as she opened the lid of the bottomless chest, searching around for something to put inside. She eventually grabbed the biggest box from under the tree and shoved it into the tiny chest, gaping in awe.

"Do you like it?" I asked, still laughing, and Mirah laughed gleefully.

"Are you kidding?! I've always wanted one of these!" She hugged me tightly, releasing me almost immediately to stare at the chest again. "Now I can put all my things inside it without having to worry about running out of space!" but then her face suddenly fell.

"What is it?" I asked nervously, and she looked up at me guiltily.

"Now I have to find a way to get that parcel out," she said, and I laughed as she turned the chest upside down, shaking it until the box came tumbling out.

I started opening my gifts, but much more slowly and thoughtfully than Mirah had done.
I was nearly brought to tears by each gift from my friends; I didn't think I'd ever get used to receiving gifts rather than just giving them.

By the time I'd reached the last of the gifts, I had a small pile of items from each of the previous seven boxes — a lovely pair of knitted gloves from Harry, a handsome leather-bound journal and bottle of ink from Hermione, a large bag of mouth-watering Honeydukes candies from Ron, a warm new coat from Mr. and Mrs. Holland, a beautiful handmade charm bracelet from Mirah (each charm represented an inside joke or a memory that we shared), a book of jinxes and hexes from Fred and George, and a letter from Mum and Dad containing a handful of galleons.

The last gift was anonymous, with only my name written on a tag tied to the ribbon. The handwriting was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

I carefully unraveled the silver ribbon, removing the lid from the box.

Inside, placed carefully atop a pile of red tissue paper, was a simple glass jar. It was empty, but yet the lid was locked in place, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open it.

I set the jar down in my lap, confused, and a glimpse of white caught my eye among the tissue paper.

I took the piece of paper, unfolding it to see a few words scrawled across it; "For those starless nights."

I frowned, looking back at the jar, puzzled.

"Who's that from?" Mirah asked over my shoulder.

"I don't know...." I mumbled thoughtfully, utterly befuddled.

Mirah snorted as she surveyed the jar, and then the empty box. "Who would send you an empty jar?" she asked, amused, and I just shrugged, reading over the note again. Starless nights....

Suddenly, an idea hit me.

I jumped up, muttering, "I'll be right back," before sprinting down the hallway and shutting myself in the guest room.

The sun was just starting to peek over the tops of the houses, but it was still dark where the sunlight didn't shine.

I placed the jar on the nightstand beside my bed, hurrying to close the curtains.

Instantly, the room fell into darkness. My heart began to race in my chest as the darkness surrounded me, and I heard my breathing quicken as the fear immediately set in.

But suddenly, a dim glow caught my attention, and I turned to face the jar on the nightstand, my eyes widening.

The jar, which had previously been empty, was now filled with a million floating lights, twinkling softly, illuminating the darkness just enough to see.

My heartbeat slowing, I kneeled before the jar, watching as the tiny lights floated lazily, occasionally drifting closer to create familiar constellations. I gaped in awe, smiling at the simple beauty as I took the jar into my hands.

The pale yellow stars blinked gently back up at me as I made my way over to the curtains and pushed them open. As soon as the light flooded into the room, the stars faded into nothing, and the jar lay empty in my hands once more.

I rejoined Mirah in the living room, placing the jar carefully back into the box and resealing it, still smiling.

"It's probably a prank from the Weasley twins," Mirah suggested with a shrug, holding up the box of prank sweets that Fred and George had sent her. "Who else would send you a jar like that?"

But I just smiled, tying the ribbon into a bow. "I have no idea," I lied, placing Draco's gift amongst the rest.