Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, settings, or situations from the Harry Potter books. Ideas from "A Christmas Carol", of course, come from the book by Charles Dickens.
Christmas Present
I was awakened by a hard nudge to my shoulder. I opened my eyes and sat up to lean on my elbows, then I groaned and flopped back down, closing my eyes. "Oh, no...not you."
"Yes, Mr. Weasley. Me. I am the ghost of Christmas Present," said Professor Snape.
I opened my eyes and looked at him. "You're the ghost of a gift?"
He snorted. "No, Mr. Weasley," he sneered. "That's present as in the present time. Fifty points from Gryffindor for your stupidity."
"Hey, wait a minute. The other ghost said she only looked like McGonagall. You're not supposed to act like Professor Snape."
"Then the other ghost did not explain herself very well. Not only do we Christmas ghosts take on physical characteristics, we assume personality traits." He leaned ominously close. "Now...do you want to try for 100 points?"
"Sorry," I muttered, though I felt anything but. I sighed and sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. "Okay. Where are we going?"
"It is not necessary to go anywhere at this moment. I merely want to talk to you about the present you have for Miss Granger."
"It's a book. I wrapped it and put it under the tree this afternoon. She always likes..."
"Not the present that is under the tree. I am referring to the present that is locked in your trunk."
"How do you know about that?"
"I know all, Mr. Weasley. It would serve you well to remember that."
I ran my hand through my hair. "I can't give her that present."
"Why not?"
"Because she has a boyfriend already. Viktor Krum. He sent her a present which she seems to love. And he probably paid a fortune for it. He can afford it. My gift would look pathetic now."
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. What makes you think she is so enamored with the gift from this Viktor Krum? Or that he is her boyfriend? Has she told you this?"
"No. But you should have seen how she looked at that bracelet he sent her. And she writes him long letters."
"Ah. And you have seen the contents of these letters."
"Well, no. But why would she be writing to him if he's not her boyfriend?"
"You are unfamiliar, Mr. Weasley, with the concept of friendship?"
"No. But Krum sure acts like he wants to be more than friends."
"But you don't know if Miss Granger returns those feelings."
I couldn't answer him. Truthfully, I didn't know.
"I see. Come along, Mr. Weasley. I think you need to see something."
Like the first ghost, he took my arm, and I found myself standing once again in the girl's dormitory. The door opened, and Hermione came in, carrying the book she had been reading that night before going to bed. I realized I was seeing what had happened only a few hours earlier.
She crossed to her bed and opened her trunk, putting the book inside. Then she pulled out a small wooden box and took it to her dresser. Unclasping the bracelet from her wrist, she held it up and looked at it. She sighed and shook her head, then dropped the bracelet into the box. Then she smiled and pulled out a bottle, opened it and held it to her nose.
It was the now empty bottle of perfume I had given her last Christmas.
Hermione carefully replaced the stopper and gave the bottle a gentle stroke, then she tenderly put the bottle back into the box. She put the box back into her trunk, lifted out her night things and a towel, then left the room, presumably headed for the prefects' bathroom.
I turned to the ghost/Snape. "She kept the bottle from the perfume I bought her, even though it's empty. Why?"
"It would seem she cherished the gift and wanted to remember receiving it."
"She must cherish the bracelet Krum gave her, too. She put it in the same box."
"Then you did not notice the way she looked at it. She did not seem pleased with it."
"But why?"
"Perhaps she doesn't like the implications of such a gift. Perhaps she doesn't return the feelings such a gift represents, and she resents receiving it from Mr. Krum."
"You keep saying 'perhaps', yet earlier you said you know everything. Why can't you just tell me how she feels?"
"I do know everything, Mr. Weasley. I just choose not to share everything."
"That's just great. Thanks a lot. I..." But he was gone. And I was back in my room.
Sitting down on my bed, I thought about what I had just witnessed. Hermione really hadn't looked happy when she put the bracelet in the box. And she kept the bottle from the perfume I bought. What did this mean? Maybe Hermione was right--maybe I did have the emotional range of a teaspoon. I certainly didn't understand what was going on with her and Krum.
I settled back into the bed and waited for the next ghost, hoping it would be someone much more pleasant than Snape.