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Title: In the Spirit – Part 12
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sesheta_66
Prompts used:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
slythindor100’s early bird prompts 18: Candles and nuts and 23: heart ornament (pictures under the cut) and dracoharry100’s prompts 11: enchanted garland and 24: stuffing stockings
Word Count: 1.2K
Rating: PG, for now
Warning: none
Summary: Harry had a rough Christmas last year, to say the least. But things are looking up this year, and he plans to embrace the season, even if he is still single.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Written for theslythindor100 Early Bird 25 Days of Draco and Harry and the dracoharry100 Christmas Challenge.
On LJ: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11
OR on AO3
In the Spirit – Part 12
Harry lifted his collar against the cold, strolling through the streets and wondering what on earth he could get for someone he didn’t like and knew next to nothing about.
He looked inside one shop full of festive cheer, if the sign out front was to be believed. They had ornaments galore, from gaudy to ornate, cheep to exhorbitant, frilly and prissy to obnoxious and obscene – the last of which being part of the ‘discrete selection’ in the back room. Then there was a large selection of hearts in varying designs.
He picked up one with very Gryffindor colouring – admittedly not difficult to find at Christmas – and chuckled at the imagined look of horror on Zabini’s face if he got that. Harry put it back and pressed through the throng to exit the now busy store, wondering from where all these people had suddenly appeared.
He skipped the next couple of shops – an apothecary and a sweets shop – figuring he ought to put a bit more thought into the thing. It would have been fairly easy – what was it Malfoy had said: chocolates for girls, jokes for boys? – if the team leads hadn’t been advised to set an example.
Chocolates, of course, would be acceptable, if a bit of a cop out, but jokes? Not bloody likely. He’d hold onto the chocolate as his go-to in a pinch, if he was unable to get something else.
The next shop that looked promising had a display window full of candles and nuts and other such seasonal knickknacks. He went inside and was immediately bombarded by Christmas. Bells and train whistles and Christmas carols fought for dominance over the chatter and excitement of the shoppers. His eyes nearly began to water from the pungent scents from candles, incense, cloves and colognes. When an enchanted bit of garland started wrapping itself around Harry’s shoulders, he extracted himself from it and fled.
He breathed in a deep gulp of fresh, non-perfumed air and began to relax. He supposed he could get Zabini something Quidditch related. But did he play? He was so pompous he probably didn’t want to get all dirty or windblown. Did he even own a broom? And did he even watch the sport? And if he did, what team did he support? No, Harry supposed Quiddich merchandise was out.
He dismissed the ideas of clothing or cologne – too personal. The same went for music or books, since he had no idea what might interest Zabini. Maybe food? He grinned, imagining Zabini’s disgust if Harry gave him a traditional Muggle Christmas cake, complete with those ghastly candied cherries that Dudley loved. Then again, who knew? He might actually like the stuff. Harry sighed. No matter if Zabini liked it or not, he was sure the gift would be perceived as ‘not in the spirit of the season’ by his superiors. Stupid politics. Even in the new and improved Ministry, he had to play the stupid games.
He bought himself a hot chocolate and sat on a bench, soaking up the slightly harried atmosphere of the mid-December after work shoppers. Not as crazy as the weekend crowds, but harried all the same. He rather thought everyone here was determined, as was he, to avoid the weekend crush if at all possible. Harry sipped the chocolate and enjoyed the feel of it sliding down, warming his insides. He blew out a breath and smiled at the puff of cold air. There was something about the chill in the air that calmed Harry, even when he was shopping.
He thought back to the other day, building a snowman and having a snowball fight at Andromeda’s, and smiled even more. He’d had fun that day. And not just with his godson, who had been a champ when they’d postponed their toboggan ride, but surprisingly also with Malfoy. Oh, for the love of -- Why couldn’t he keep the man out of his thoughts for a few hours?
Then he realised that Malfoy might be the answer to Harry’s problem. He’d been friends with Zabini in school. Not best mates or anything, but they’d spent a bit of time together. Certainly Malfoy would be able to come up with a better idea for a gift than Harry could.
He shook that thought aside. No. He would not resort to calling Malfoy up out of the blue to ask him for a favour. Even if he was the person who could help him most. Besides, he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone whose name he’d drawn. The rule probably meant not to talk to anyone at work, but ... they had said anyone. So, no. He would not ask Malfoy, or anyone else for that matter. He was a grown man. He could figure this out.
Store after store he passed, watching staff hanging garlands, designing window displays, stuffing stockings and wrapping boxes. Still, nothing came to him.
He was about to call it a day, after his stomach growled for the third time, when he saw his one last hope for wrapping this up today. After all, he might be arrogant, but Zabini was a fellow Auror. Surely Harry could find something in Wary Wares that Zabini might appreciate. He sure hoped so, because he really did not want to spend any more time on this.
Harry opened the door to the shop and went inside, pleased that soft music played in the background and no scented anything attacked his nose. After the war, stores of this nature – with products designed to help detect, protect from and defend against dark magic – had popped up all over the place, riding the coattails of fear and grief. Most had proven to be unreliable at best and irresponsible or downright dangerous at worst, and Arthur Weasley had shuttered a fair few such establishments. But Wary Wares had been one of the few to survive, and certainly the one to most thrive. Early on, the owners had worked with the Ministry, and over time had established themselves as the place to go for all your defensive needs.
Harry passed the books on dark spells – ones focussed on detection and defence, rather than the dark arts themselves – and made his way to the dark detectors. He eyed the foe glasses (too pricey), the probity probes (too probity), and numerous concealment revealing devices, all of which were rather large and cumbersome. They even had a scaled-down version of the waterfall beneath Gringott’s that you could drape over an entryway.
Then he saw just what he’d been looking for: sneakoscopes. These latest versions weren’t the ones of old. They came in all sorts of colours, sizes and designs, with varying detection levels. Some whirled, others whined, and the ones aimed at younger customers popped or bounced or spit out bubbles. Harry thought one of those might make a nice gift for Teddy. He took his time reviewing the features before deciding on a compact one with a Ministry stamp of approval, so presumably it was functional rather than a novelty. It was tastefully designed, had a silent mode and would fit into your pants pocket. And it came in just at the top end of the price limit they’d been given.
Opting not to have it gift-wrapped – after all, they were all to be wrapped similarly – Harry paid for the gift, thanked the clerk, and left the shop feeling rather accomplished.
When once more his thoughts turned to Malfoy – this time lingering on several items he thought the other man might like – he willed himself to shove those thoughts aside.
Part 13
Author:
sesheta_66Prompts used:
slythindor100’s early bird prompts 18: Candles and nuts and 23: heart ornament (pictures under the cut) and dracoharry100’s prompts 11: enchanted garland and 24: stuffing stockings Word Count: 1.2K
Rating: PG, for now
Warning: none
Summary: Harry had a rough Christmas last year, to say the least. But things are looking up this year, and he plans to embrace the season, even if he is still single.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Written for the
slythindor100 Early Bird 25 Days of Draco and Harry and the dracoharry100 Christmas Challenge. On LJ: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11
OR on AO3
Harry lifted his collar against the cold, strolling through the streets and wondering what on earth he could get for someone he didn’t like and knew next to nothing about.
He looked inside one shop full of festive cheer, if the sign out front was to be believed. They had ornaments galore, from gaudy to ornate, cheep to exhorbitant, frilly and prissy to obnoxious and obscene – the last of which being part of the ‘discrete selection’ in the back room. Then there was a large selection of hearts in varying designs.
He picked up one with very Gryffindor colouring – admittedly not difficult to find at Christmas – and chuckled at the imagined look of horror on Zabini’s face if he got that. Harry put it back and pressed through the throng to exit the now busy store, wondering from where all these people had suddenly appeared.
He skipped the next couple of shops – an apothecary and a sweets shop – figuring he ought to put a bit more thought into the thing. It would have been fairly easy – what was it Malfoy had said: chocolates for girls, jokes for boys? – if the team leads hadn’t been advised to set an example.
Chocolates, of course, would be acceptable, if a bit of a cop out, but jokes? Not bloody likely. He’d hold onto the chocolate as his go-to in a pinch, if he was unable to get something else.
The next shop that looked promising had a display window full of candles and nuts and other such seasonal knickknacks. He went inside and was immediately bombarded by Christmas. Bells and train whistles and Christmas carols fought for dominance over the chatter and excitement of the shoppers. His eyes nearly began to water from the pungent scents from candles, incense, cloves and colognes. When an enchanted bit of garland started wrapping itself around Harry’s shoulders, he extracted himself from it and fled.
He breathed in a deep gulp of fresh, non-perfumed air and began to relax. He supposed he could get Zabini something Quidditch related. But did he play? He was so pompous he probably didn’t want to get all dirty or windblown. Did he even own a broom? And did he even watch the sport? And if he did, what team did he support? No, Harry supposed Quiddich merchandise was out.
He dismissed the ideas of clothing or cologne – too personal. The same went for music or books, since he had no idea what might interest Zabini. Maybe food? He grinned, imagining Zabini’s disgust if Harry gave him a traditional Muggle Christmas cake, complete with those ghastly candied cherries that Dudley loved. Then again, who knew? He might actually like the stuff. Harry sighed. No matter if Zabini liked it or not, he was sure the gift would be perceived as ‘not in the spirit of the season’ by his superiors. Stupid politics. Even in the new and improved Ministry, he had to play the stupid games.
He bought himself a hot chocolate and sat on a bench, soaking up the slightly harried atmosphere of the mid-December after work shoppers. Not as crazy as the weekend crowds, but harried all the same. He rather thought everyone here was determined, as was he, to avoid the weekend crush if at all possible. Harry sipped the chocolate and enjoyed the feel of it sliding down, warming his insides. He blew out a breath and smiled at the puff of cold air. There was something about the chill in the air that calmed Harry, even when he was shopping.
He thought back to the other day, building a snowman and having a snowball fight at Andromeda’s, and smiled even more. He’d had fun that day. And not just with his godson, who had been a champ when they’d postponed their toboggan ride, but surprisingly also with Malfoy. Oh, for the love of -- Why couldn’t he keep the man out of his thoughts for a few hours?
Then he realised that Malfoy might be the answer to Harry’s problem. He’d been friends with Zabini in school. Not best mates or anything, but they’d spent a bit of time together. Certainly Malfoy would be able to come up with a better idea for a gift than Harry could.
He shook that thought aside. No. He would not resort to calling Malfoy up out of the blue to ask him for a favour. Even if he was the person who could help him most. Besides, he wasn’t supposed to tell anyone whose name he’d drawn. The rule probably meant not to talk to anyone at work, but ... they had said anyone. So, no. He would not ask Malfoy, or anyone else for that matter. He was a grown man. He could figure this out.
Store after store he passed, watching staff hanging garlands, designing window displays, stuffing stockings and wrapping boxes. Still, nothing came to him.
He was about to call it a day, after his stomach growled for the third time, when he saw his one last hope for wrapping this up today. After all, he might be arrogant, but Zabini was a fellow Auror. Surely Harry could find something in Wary Wares that Zabini might appreciate. He sure hoped so, because he really did not want to spend any more time on this.
Harry opened the door to the shop and went inside, pleased that soft music played in the background and no scented anything attacked his nose. After the war, stores of this nature – with products designed to help detect, protect from and defend against dark magic – had popped up all over the place, riding the coattails of fear and grief. Most had proven to be unreliable at best and irresponsible or downright dangerous at worst, and Arthur Weasley had shuttered a fair few such establishments. But Wary Wares had been one of the few to survive, and certainly the one to most thrive. Early on, the owners had worked with the Ministry, and over time had established themselves as the place to go for all your defensive needs.
Harry passed the books on dark spells – ones focussed on detection and defence, rather than the dark arts themselves – and made his way to the dark detectors. He eyed the foe glasses (too pricey), the probity probes (too probity), and numerous concealment revealing devices, all of which were rather large and cumbersome. They even had a scaled-down version of the waterfall beneath Gringott’s that you could drape over an entryway.
Then he saw just what he’d been looking for: sneakoscopes. These latest versions weren’t the ones of old. They came in all sorts of colours, sizes and designs, with varying detection levels. Some whirled, others whined, and the ones aimed at younger customers popped or bounced or spit out bubbles. Harry thought one of those might make a nice gift for Teddy. He took his time reviewing the features before deciding on a compact one with a Ministry stamp of approval, so presumably it was functional rather than a novelty. It was tastefully designed, had a silent mode and would fit into your pants pocket. And it came in just at the top end of the price limit they’d been given.
Opting not to have it gift-wrapped – after all, they were all to be wrapped similarly – Harry paid for the gift, thanked the clerk, and left the shop feeling rather accomplished.
When once more his thoughts turned to Malfoy – this time lingering on several items he thought the other man might like – he willed himself to shove those thoughts aside.
Part 13