Harry Potter And The Unexpected Friend

That night Harry excitedly told Daphne about how he had opened the egg and what the clue was. She agreed with his and Hermione's assessment that the Merpeople were going to hide something of his under the lake. Unfortunately, she also didn't know of a spell that could be used to breathe underwater. Daphne also told him of her sister's sudden interest in what she was doing with her time. Harry fully expected to be interrogated by the younger Greengrass when she did find out who Daphne's date was. Luckily, they both thought, no one else had any idea that they were going to the Yule Ball together. A few girls had asked Harry if he had a date yet, apparently him being a Triwizard champion was enough to make up for the fact that he was a future dark lord, but he had politely told every one that he already had a date.

And so the winter break began and the anticipation for the upcoming Ball grew. Most years the castle was nearly empty during the holidays, but this year almost everyone stayed so that they could attend the Yule Ball. At Daphne's request Harry had added ballroom dancing to their training. In the beginning he was absolutely dreadful at it, which Daphne discovered in the way of several stepped on toes. Daphne, who was expected to be able to dance due to pureblood customs, was slowly able to bring his performance up to an acceptable level.

Two days before the Yule Ball she finally deemed him ready, saying that he might not embarass them both. Harry had been so busy that it wasn't until the day before the ball that the realization that he had never been on a date before and had no idea what to do really struck him. Part of him thought he was less nervous about facing the dragon, at least then he had a plan. He spent the rest of the night trying to calm himself down, and was mostly able to as he finally went to bed hoping that this Christmas would be one that he would happily remember.

...

Christmas morning Harry was suddenly woken up by a heavy weight falling on his chest. His arm immediately darted out to grasp his wand, which he had set on his bedside table. A moment after he had the wand pointed at the object laying on him his eyes began to focus and even without his glasses he was able to recognize the blurry shape.

"Dobby? What are you doing?" he asked, setting his wand down and reaching for his glasses. The little house elf was staring at him and bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Dobby wanted to be the first to tell you Merry Christmas, Harry Potter sir." Dobby squealed happily. "Dobby had to be early before someone else did it!" By now Harry's roommates were beginning to wake up at the commotion being caused by the happy elf. He could hear several groggy voices asking "What's that noise?" and "What time is it?"

"Sorry guys, it's just Dobby. Go back to sleep. It's not even six o'clock yet." Harry said. Neville nodded and went to lay back down, but the others didn't seem to think that was a good idea.

"No way." Seamus replied, "It's Christmas morning and I am going to open my presents." Harry sighed, guessing that he was just going to have to wake up. Dobby finally moved off his chest, allowing him to sit up and move to the foot of the bed where he could see his roommates already starting to open their presents. Harry went to reach for a box decorated with a bright red bow which he guessed was his annual sweater from Mrs Weasley when he was suddenly stopped.

"Mine first, Harry Potter sir." Dobby commanded, handing him a small bag covered in brightly colored ribbons. Harry slowly began to untie the ribbons and when he finally got it open pulled out two mismatched sox that appeared to have been hand knitted. "I made them all by myself!" Dobby commented proudly. Harry looked back at the socks, noting that not only were they different colors but different sizes as well.

"Thanks Dobby. These are really… great." Harry smiled at the elf who was now crying tears of joy, thrilled that Harry liked his gift. He felt a little guilty that Dobby had gone to so much trouble and he had not even bothered to get a gift for him. Then, an idea struck him and he reached into his trunk and pulled out a single sock who had long ago lost its mate. "In fact, I got you something too. Merry Christmas, Dobby." Dobby pulled the sock out of Harry's hands and then threw himself at Harry, his little arms hugging as tightly as they could.

"Harry Potter is too kind! Dobby will treasure this forever, sir!" Harry noticed that the rest of his roommates were now looking at him and the elf trying to hold back laughter. Even Ron, who had done his best to avoid even looking at Harry, had a smile on his face.

"You're welcome, I'm just glad you liked it." Dobby thanked him again and then left the room, saying that he was needed back in the kitchens. Harry turned back to his presents and found that the box he had been looking at did indeed contain a sweater from Mrs Weasley. He felt relieved that she had not listened to the foolishness being printed in the Daily Prophet and wasn't holding the troubles between himself and Ron against him. Harry stopped opening presents and took a moment to watch his roommates, all happily opening presents from family and friends. Ron was opening a package that contained a sweater that looked much like the one he had received, while Neville was tearing open a present from him that contained a rare Herbology book he was able to owl order from the bookstore in Diagon Alley. Harry was enjoying the scene before him when he noticed Ron looking at him strangely.

"Harry?" his old friend asked, holding up a hat with the logo of Ron's favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons, on it. Harry had felt uncertain whether or not he wanted to get Ron anything, but eventually decided to. He still hoped that one day they could be friends again. Ron had not given him anything, but Harry wasn't expecting him to.

"Merry Christmas, Ron." he answered simply. Ron nodded his head while muttering a very quiet "Thanks" and set the present down in the pile containing the rest of his gifts. Fifteen minutes later all of the presents had been opened and his roommates were discussing whether or not to go back to sleep. Ron and Neville, who never really wanted to wake up in the first place, were already back in bed. Harry got up and left Dean and Seamus to argue with each other about what to do next. He had the feeling that this was going to be a long and eventful day.

....

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