Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the entire realm and all its canon tributaries of Harry Potter, but this is my story. I have written four other fan fictions and they each spin off the one before. This one is also a spinoff of my last one, Epiphany. I’m sure you don’t have to read the others to understand this one. You won’t get lost; it can stand on its own. It is a One Shot and not very long. I hope you like it. Please feel free to make comments as I would love to know what you think of it.

The Christmas Gift

He was standing on the very tip of a large boulder that hung out over the majority of earth under the massive rock. A feeling of suspension and being unattached came over him. The air was clean and crisp, taking his breath when sudden gusts of freezing cold wind hit him in the face. His hair blew wildly about his face and shoulders. Tiny icicles accumulated on the hairs of his mustache and beard. To say it was cold would be an understatement, yet he stood unmoved to shelter himself. It was beautiful to see the gentle hills, some with knobby tops and others with swells of bubbly laughter rolling down over the side of the hills and dales.

Snow covered all that was visible to him and he marveled in the beauty he beheld looking out over all his land. There was just enough light left of the day to paint tints of blues and grays in the valleys and hues of gold and violet glowing on the ice covered boulders, and hilltops. Snowdrifts that laced the hillsides were ominous yet inviting. The evergreen trees were dressed in clumps of heavy snow and splashed with strands of green pine needles here and there. Oak and other bare trees stood non ashamed and defiant of the season robbing their suits of beautiful leaves and bravely dared the snow, wind, and ice to suffer it’s new buds, even now in the heart of each tree, to prepare their readiness to begin a season of shade for the grounds from the scorching rays of the summer sun. “Soon,” the trees seemed to coax the mind of the observer, “soon there will be leaves thick and intoxicating beauty sheltering warbling and trilling songbirds calling for their mates and starting families.”

He turned his head slightly looking to his left at a small thread of gray smoke tickling the wind as it was caught and then quickly made its escape and ventured on into shades of the cold blue winter sky. The house the smoke was coming from was tucked away behind a hill covered with snow laden trees. It was the Christmas season and the man knew his wife and daughter would be returning from Kings Cross at any moment with his two sons. A tinge of bitterness came over him, but he dismissed it quickly. His duties as head Auror kept him from being able to go with them to get his sons. There had been an emergency at the last minute he had to deal with that kept him from being there when his sons got off the train. And since he had just recently returned to full active duty from his long absence from work; he could hardly relegate the duty to another Auror.

He looked back at the snowdrifts and thought on how he had constantly reminded his children of the dangers of trying to bust through them on their sleds. “You never know what is hidden in there; it could be big rocks that will break your teeth and noses. Or they could slyly be covering large dips in the ground that you could fall into and be buried under the weight of all the snow.” He couldn’t wait for tomorrow when he would take his children to an area he had worked on clearing away all the dangers before the snow began falling, so his children could burst through the snowdrifts and be exuberant with their victory and defeat over the snowdrifts. He smiled thinking how good it would be to have the family he loved more than life together this night and the rest of the holiday, especially Christmas. Life had been long and arduous these nineteen and a half years especially with his latest and final defeat of Tom Riddle three months ago.

He looked to the heavens and his eyes watered with so many memories he lived through. All the sacrifices he made, all the sacrifices that were made for him. His heart felt like it could not hold together from the hard pounding it was doing as more memories tried to tear at the fragility of his heart that had been broken so many times from the death of loved ones and repaired in desperation of new life. He had come to terms with his life and all the sacrifices he made and others made for him. His body was nearly fully recovered, but his hardships were too great for his mind to ever overcome completely.

Standing there in his solemn discord, Harry knew why he was feeling the way he was. He had wondered over and over why so many sacrifices had to be made. Needless loss of life and yet every life lost was just a piece of a puzzle that made the picture complete. But that was just the thing, the puzzle wasn’t complete. Harry thought desperately for a reason the puzzle was never completed. A huge piece was missing and he could never figure out what it was; what did the piece look like; what part of his life did it fit in. It seemed like it encompassed his past and present, but the missing piece was a huge loss that didn’t make sense. For years he tried to figure out this missing puzzle piece. He tried urgently, even frantically to try to make out what the picture was of, but it was never clear. He knew it was one of the sacrifices he had made years ago. Why couldn’t he get over it? Why did it matter so much? He had been able to overcome the memory and nightmares of every one of those sacrifices and live a sub normal life except this one.

Tears streamed down his face as the burden became overwhelming to him. The wind screeched through the trees and hollows. Harry suddenly looked out into the snow in front of him. The very last ray of the bright golden sun hit a wisp of wind and snow and then another wisp and then another and another. The flakes swirled in front of him and an image formed and fell away and formed again several times. Harry’s breath caught in his chest, and his heart beat hard and fast. The swirls of snowflakes came together one last time and Harry held out his arms.

“Hedwig?” he said softly, “Hedwig?” He dared not smile from his joy for fear the phenomenon might disappear. “It is you, Hedwig?” Harry broke down unable to hold back his emotions any longer. “Hedwig, I’m sorry. I can’t forgive myself for letting your death happen. You shouldn’t have had to sacrifice your life for me. I should have been able to deflect that curse. Hagrid wouldn’t have had to roll the motorcycle over. I lost you because of my ineptness with magic. I as good as killed you myself. I’m so sorry Hedwig. I can’t fix …” Harry’s voice broke and he sobbed uncontrollably.

The swirling snowflakes came right up to him and engulfed his outstretched arms. He felt an affectionate nibble on his ear and a small piece of parchment, he thought, appeared in his hands. Harry read the unearthly writing. “Harry, you did not sacrifice me. I did not sacrifice myself. It was something unfortunate and unfair that happened. There was nothing you or anyone else could have done. Do not mourn me, celebrate my life we had; Merry Christmas, Harry.” Harry nodded his head and the sunray disappeared and the snow blew fiercely in all directions collecting on his head and shoulders. The wind whipped the note from Harry and hung as a puzzle piece in front of him slipping into a picture that completed the puzzle. Harry saw the picture understanding it even though he didn’t see what it was. Harry tried to bring it close to him to look at it because it was dark now and he wanted to look at it better to know how love, hardship, anger, laughter, sacrifices, and life was painted all in one picture. The wind shifted and a sudden rebellious gust snatched it away just out of reach of Harry and it disintegrated into the swirling snow all about him.

Harry stood there a moment later watching as the full moon touched the scenery he had been observing at the twilight’s last gleaming light. 'Which is more beautiful,' he wondered; 'the sun setting over my land, or the moon shining over the glistening snow making everything look like it was covered in shades of blue, purple, and silver glitter? They are each one just as beautiful as the other. The thing that is most beautiful is wellness in my soul.' As the wind picked up and fought to knock him down and carry him down the hillside, he turned away from the scene and walked into the night to where he knew his family was waiting for him; home. The puzzle was complete and he finally had closure for Hedwig. It was going to be the Merriest of Christmases ever.
The End

Here is where you can find my other fan fictions if you want to give them a look see. 
Of Heads Or Tails –Sa13+
Life Goes On Long After The Thrill Of Living Is Gone - Sa13+ This is a One Shot
Led By His Wand Sa-13+
Epiphany –Sa-16+
Answer's Come The Hard Way -Sa+16 This is a series of One Shots and Short Stories
'Twas The Night Before Christmas -Sa13 This is a One Shot
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This is so beautiful. SO beautiful. I think my favourite part is how the descriptions are lyrical, without being purple prose. I love the flow of words as the writing progresses.



Thank you for the Christmas read, Connie.

So sweet, Connie! I love this Christmas gift! Who had never dreamt of meeting Hedwig once more?
I don't have time to write a good comment now, I only want to tell you that I love it!

Dear Connie, your descriptions and the imagery you use in your writing makes for a fantastic story. You are capable of using the perfect words to capture the interest and stir the imagination of your readers.

I love the importance you have given to Hedwig as I would imagine Harry would also find it difficult to live on without a closure from his most beloved pet. It is perfectly plausible that he would feel the way he did, even after so many years as usually the scars that are left after a "war" and witnessing the death of loved ones stays with a survivor after many years and it is very difficult to heal.

Thank you for sharing your beautiful story with us. I really enjoyed it! <3

Hey guys, I'm so ashamed it has taken me so long to answer your comments. Please forgive me. I did read them right after you took the time to post them, but time got away from me as sometimes happens in the real world of having too many things to keep track of. So without further ado, here are the posts regarding your comments.


Maxilocks: Thank you so much for reading my Christmas Gift and commenting on it. Your words are very kind and I love you for them. I am so pleased you see the way I wrote it as lyrical. I am not a huge fan of poetry, but for this One Shot I wanted to write it with a semblance of poetry for two main reasons.

This One Shot is the third one I wrote in the series, but it is actually from a longer One Shot in the series of nine. It is taken from the next to the last one. In the eighth One Shot; this rock Harry is on will have a name significant to the story in the last One Shot. I wanted this part to stand out from the rest of that story to give my readers an option to just read it or to decipher Harry’s life and see if it might say something the same as poetry might tell his story of the good and bad with beauty and grace. I wanted to set Harry in an elevated place to give a wider view and imagine the scene and his reflections in the reader’s minds. I wanted to have a post specifically for Christmas for my readers, so I took this part out of the outline and reworked it just a bit to make it special in a poetic form without rhyming or verses. This leads into the second reason I wrote it this way.

In the eighth story the rock and the name of it will become significant especially for the last story. If anyone tried to decipher Harry and his life from the poetic form then the last story will mean a lot more to the reader. If nobody tried to decipher the meaning of the lyrical writing, then it will just be a good story that tied up all the loose endings. I really hope that my readers will see great beauty, and feel an emotional sincerity and intensity. And I hope they will have a profound insight to what I wanted Epiphany and these One Shots to reflect about Harry’s life he led and also how he changes in the end. I did have a hidden agenda in my writing.

Now, this is confusing so I hope I can explain without messing up anyone's head. Like I said before, I wrote nine One Shots. But, as you may notice if you read the other One Shots over in the Mature +16 thread, there will only be eight in the Table Of Content because this one is part of the seventh One Shot.

Quote:
'Which is more beautiful,' he wondered; 'the sun setting over my land, or the moon shining over the glistening snow making everything look like it was covered in shades of blue, purple, and silver glitter?

Odd that you chose this particular piece to highlight and comment on.
This comparison is the exact vision I wanted to stand out in my readers mind if they tried to decipher what was written. Harry watched the end of the day and the beginning of the night blessing the other with beauty and grace. And in this moment of time merging together he made a realization about his life.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting.

Ivana: Thanks for reading and commenting. I’m so glad you liked my Christmas Gift. I thought since Crookshanks got the raw end of the deal in JK’s story, I could give her and Harry a way to say goodbye. I’m really glad you liked it. Thanks again for commenting.

Ava: Thank you for reading and commenting. I appreciate your sweet words and I will keep them in mind as I write more stories to try to keep earning such praise.

Death of loved ones due to any kind of violence; especially war(s) is something that must be very hard to overcome. I can only imagine in a very small way the pain people go through when there is no closure for them. I know Harry Potter isn’t real, but I tried to make him experience this hardship to give homage to the people in real life who experience these hardships and more. Harry is lucky he finally gets to discover his puzzle put together, but so many people don’t. My heart goes out to them.

I’m thrilled you enjoyed my story, and thank you again for reading and commenting.

Hey Guys, I hope the holidays were a wonderful time of celebration and family love and fun. I meant to post this for Christmas, but fell behind in getting the whole story written. If you don't celebrate Christmas, please don't be offended with my poem, just think of it as part of a fun celebration. This is just a poem Harry wrote for Lily that I took from the current One Shot I wrote. Actually, it is quite long, you know how long winded I am, so I think I'm going to call it a short story and divide it into maybe three parts. I do hope you like this poem from the first part, it was fun to write. I'm not good at writing poetry, so please accuse my inept attempt.

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas, where all through the castle;
Corridors and classes were adorned with much tassel.
No students were resting, no students in beds,
Fun and tricks filled each of their heads.

A stirring in the air, from enchantment and charm;
A startled house elf yowled her alarm.
Spells were forgotten the house elf ran free;
Students ran to windows to have a look see.

The legendary Ford Anglia, was parked out on the lawn,
And with it waited a Patronus Fawn.
They watched as a first year approached singing lauder;
The fawn gave its message to its owner, Lily Potter.

The wild car opened its rusty doors two,
The radio playing an old Christmas tune.
Out flew presents for all girls and boys;
Practical gifts and magical toys.
Then Lily thanked the car and fawn;
And went to her bed to a wait Christmas dawn.

When morn arose the Head asked the cause;
“Why the car, not deer and Saint Clause?”
Lily rose from her breakfast, and turned to the Headmaster;
Speaking slowly at first, and then she got faster.
“Oh sir, if you please, I became full of fear,
You may’ve forgotten to show Santa the way clear.

So I summoned my Patronus to the man quite round,
Directions to the car at the edge of forest ground.
After the message he had just received,
He was indeed quite relieved.
He said with his finger to the side of his nose;
“Portis Temporus!” and into the air gifts arose.

The gifts went in the car for the trip here;
Instead of with Santa and his loyal reindeer.
A message he gave my Patronus for me,
“Thanks for the Patronus and magical key.”

Connie
How so "you are not good at writing poetry"? Don't say nonsense! You are great in doing that and I love every part you wrote here.

I think it's perfect from you writing in verses a poem for Christmas. Writing with words arranged in a perfect rhythmic pattern sounds like children songs, reminds me of fairy tales. It takes me to my past, when I waited for Santa Claus to bring a special Christmas gift. Brilliant! I loved it and I want more! <3

You are great in describing all the scenes, I can see the students running to see the car and I even can hear their excited voices of surprise when they opened their gifts.

It's everything perfect. I love it! Thank you for sharing your magic with us!

Okay, first off I really like the one-shot. Harry still mourning Hedwig is sooo fitting for his character and finally getting the closure he needed was adorable. And the Night Before Christmas was great! I love remakes of that poem and little Lily having a fawn as her patronus is one of the best headcanon's I have ever heard. Love it!
Rach