Wow. It's been a looooong time since I wrote on this, hasn't it. I could list a whole slew of reasons why, like crappy ff.net, or writers block, but really, I'm just a lazy person. But I'm working on it now, aren't I? I did something my brother recommended to me. I went ahead and wrote the last couple of chapters, so all I have to do is fill in the huge blank between there and now.

Disclaimer: You know the drill. Only Raspberry and Joe are mine. Let me know if you really want to use them. I doubt anyone wants to though. And yes, I know Raspberry is kinda, well, blondish.

Warnings: Slash, probably some profanity (I've got a potty mouth, I know), weird crap ahead. Thanks to everyone for putting up with the superlong wait.

Chatroom Anonymity Chapter 14: Christmas Presents

     December rolled around for Hogwarts before anyone had realized just how much time had passed. But all too soon, Harry found his friends packing their bags and getting ready for the holidays. Hermione, Neville and most of the Gryffindors were going home for the small break. The entire Weasley family was going to visit Mrs. Weasley's brother and sister-in-law in northern England for the break. Harry was the only Gryffindor 5th year to be staying behind.
     "Don't worry Harry," Hermione said as the got ready to leave. "We left your presents here, and we promise to owl."
     Ron made a face. "Malfoy's sticking around though. You have my pity."
     "You really should be nicer to him," said a quiet voice behind Ron. They turned to see Neville standing there, Goyle a small ways off and pretending not to eavesdrop on the conversation. Harry smiled at them both. He talked to Silver again that night and he'd told them what Goyle had said. As long as Neville was happy. . .
     "Are you cracked?" Ron demanded. "This is Malfoy we're talking about here. The boy that's made our past 4 and a half years here miserable as he can! Why should I be nicer to him??"
     "You never know. There maybe a reason he acts the way he does." Neville glanced back at his boyfriend. "Have you actually tried being civil to him, even once?"
     "No need to, he's a bloody prat who delights in torturing others. I don't want to be civil."
     "Ron's right, Neville. Hermione spoke up, putting her hand on her secret boyfriend's arm. Ron shot her a grateful look. "This is Draco Malfoy we are talking about. He hasn't given us an ounce of leeway for the past 4 1/2 years. He's an absolute jerk, without even trying. Why would we want to be his friends?"
     Harry saw Goyle glance at something off to their right and turned inconspicuously to see. He saw Draco standing not to far away, within hearing range of the entire conversation. He was staring at them, with the weirdest look Harry had ever seen on him. He looked almost. . . sad. But when he saw Harry looking, he sneered, then turned and walked away. Only Harry and Goyle had even seen him.
     "Well," Ron said, "We're leavin' in a bit, so we best be going. Have fun Harry. We'll write." They boarded the coaches to take them back to the Hogwarts Express, and then they were gone. Harry turned and went back into the school.

*~*~*~*~*

     After everyone was gone, the Gryffindor tower seemed much more colder and much lonelier. Harry found that he spent less and less time in there and more time just wandering the castle. One of these roundabout walks found Harry entering Raspberry's classroom one day. Just as he entered, he heard her call out suddenly: "Joe!!"
     Harry felt a quick urge to look up, and was glad he did, as the the oddly colored rodent lost his grip on the stones above the door way and slipped off. Harry, being where he was, just put out his arms and caught him.
     "Oh, thank you Harry." Raspberry swept up and took the shaken squirrel from the boy. "I keep telling him he can't climb the stones, but he never listens."
     Joe squeaked, and Raspberry pet him gently. "Yes yes, I know. But that doesn't mean you can go pulling stunts like that around here. These stones don't have paint on them to dig your claws into."
     Harry raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. Instead, he looked arond the classroom, and was shocked to come face to face with Draco Malfoy. He had been avoiding the silver haired boy, and this was the last place he had expected him.
     "Hallo Potter." Draco said coolly from his perch on top of one of the desks. "What brings you here?"
     "I was bored and there was no one to talk to," Harry found himself answering honestly.
     "Aah, well, you're welcome to stay, Harry." Raspberry put Joe down on her desk. The squirrel immediately got up and launched himself at Harry, who had sat down on one of the desks. "Thanks for catching Joe. Anyway, are breaks here always so boring?"
     "Yes," both boys answered simultaneously. Raspberry grinned.
     "Well, to perk up today, and to give you boys something to do, I'll show you something special about Joe that no one is going to find out until they get back."
     Draco grinned, he liked having secrets, and Harry just stared blankly at the squirrel in his lap. "You mean there's something even weirder about him?" he asked. Joe trilled indignantly.
     "Yes, there is." Raspberry replied. Joe got up and scooted into the free space between her desk and the front row. "Show them your secret Joe. About why Mrs. Norris won't bother you."
     Joe chirriped and began to glow. Harry's eyes widened, and if he had been standing, he would have taken a few steps back. As it was, he leaned back a bit. The glowing soon stopped, and where Joe had stood before, now stood a perfect imitation of Mrs. Norris. Except Joe looked alot nicer then the Evil Cat from Hell.
     "Wow." was the only response, and it came from Draco. "What other creatures does he do? He's a shapeshifter, right?"
     "Yes, he is. That's why I had you do those scrolls in November on shapeshifters. He does any creature you want, except human adult."
     "So he can do a human child?" Harry asked, walking up to Joe.
     "Yes. When I came to visit my nephew when he was about 4, him and Joe used to pretend to be twins. Or he would use Joe to get out of having to take a bath or comb his hair or the like."
     "Cute." Harry replied. "So you're going to do what Professor Lupin did with the boggart."
     "Not quite. The boggart is a relative of the shapeshifter, but they aren't the same. Joe's had shields put on him, and he's going to shift into dark creatures, for you to practice with."
     Joe shifted back, minus the light show, and climbed up onto Harry's arm. Harry carried him back to the desk and sat back down. "What's with the light?"
     "Huh?" Raspberry answered. She was kinda a ditz sometimes.
     "What he means is, why did Joe glow when he shifted, and not glow when he went back. Shapeshifters usually don't do that, do they?" Draco said.
     "Oh, that. That's just Joe being a bit of a show off. He learned that trick from an Agaer we met up with a few years back."
     "What's an Agaer?" Harry asked.
     Joe hopped back into his spot on the floor and shifted again. Now he was a short, squat little creature with huge ears, tiny feet, no arms and a bushy tail. He was still green though. It looked like something Harry had seen before, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Raspberry looked at him curiously. "This remind you of something boys?"
     The proverbial lightbulb when on above Harry's head. "It looks like that Muggle toy, Furby, or whatever! My cousin had one."
     "Exactly." Raspberry smiled and Joe made a trilling noise, which was kinda funny coming from the Furby-ish creature. "The wizarding world was in an uproar when an Agaer let itself be seen by a muggle. That muggle went home, convinced he had been smoking something weird, and drew the plans for the toy the next day. It's supposedly the most state of the art Muggle toy available."
     "Stupid things never shut up. My cousin couldn't make it say anything, so he pitched it out the window, and I retreived it. I taught it to say, 'Uncle Vernon's a prat', 'Dudly's an ass', and 'Aunt Petunia's a gossip who can't cook'. That and 'Shut up' and 'Goodnight Harry'. I hid it under my bed and put it in deep sleep mode during the day so the Dursley's wouldn't find it." Harry replied.
     "Yes, they are most interesting Muggle toys. Almost sentient. Had about 4 of them myself and I just let them talk to one another. And when my Muggle friends came over, Joe just shifted to an Agaer and sat with them."
     "Almost makes me want one." Draco said, looking at Joe.
     Raspberry lifted her red eyebrow and looked over at him. Her hair was red and green for the holiday, and she had made her left eyebrow green and her right one red. Then she looked at Harry, almost daring him to do something. Harry took the bait.

*~*~*~*~*

     Christmas morning came, and Harry woke to Joe sitting on his chest, chirping eagerly. Harry laughed lightly. "Good morning to you too Joe. Merry Christmas."
     Joe tilted his head and shifted into a Agaer. Then he trilled curiously. It took Harry a moment to figure out what he wanted, then nodded. "Yeah, if your asking if I got it for him, then I did. I had my Godfather order it on his Muggle computer, then owl it to me. I used the invisibility cloak and put it on his bed last night.An anonymous present, although he'll figure it's Raspberry or me as we're the only ones who know."
     Joe shifted back and bobbed his head. Then he scampered off Harry's chest, and Harry crawled to the end of his bed for his presents. He got the usual sweater and fudge from Mrs. Weasley, a copy of Muggle Camping Survival from Hermione, The Complete Hex Removal Qwik Kit from Ron, with a note that said Just in case of attack of the killer Malfoy and some other presents. But among the usual presents were 2 from people he usually didn't get any from. One, was from Raspberry, and was a 'SpellWrite Diary'. Her note said 'Fully checked over by Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. I insisted, after I heard about the mess with the last time a diary was around you. Just kidding. Anyway, this diary acts the same. It just doesn't write back. You can write your thoughts in it, and then tap it with your wand and say Noni-Trespassious. Then tap it twice more and say whatever you want your password to be. The words will sink into the pages and dissappear. Joe tells me you have a card that you talk to someone at night with, this is a lot the same. When you want to hide your words, one tap and 'Noni-Traspassious'. When you want to read what you've written, one tap and your password. Merry Christmas!! ~Tiel Itiriaty Senelen Azorleah~'
     Harry smiled. He got out a quill and ink, and wrote 'Property of H. Potter' Then he tapped it one and said "Noni-Traspassious!" The words vanished into the paper. Then he tapped it again, twice, and said "D Malfoy!" The Diary glowed, then rested. Harry nodded, and set it aside for the last gift.
     There was no tag. He opened it to find an ornate jade sculpture inside. A note tucked under it read: 'To Harry, From Silver. It's the same shade as your eyes.' It looked like an Oriental Dragon, with the whiskers and snakelike body. Harry pulled out his copy of Fantastic Beasts and looked up dragons. "A Chinese Fireball. Nice." Harry said.
     Joe chirriped from the door. Harry laughed again, and got up and got dressed. Then, with Joe playing guide, he went down to breakfast.

*~*~*~*~*

     Raspberry waved from the teachers table, and Harry waved back. There was only a few students this year staying behind during the break. 3 Gryffindors (including Harry), 2 ravenclaws, 2 slytherins (Including Draco) and 4 HufflePuffs. Not that it mattered, it was this way every year. Harry sat down next to the 2 Gryffindor 2nd years and began to eat his breakfast.
     Draco walked in, moments later, a small thing tucked under his arm. As he set it down, Harry recognized it as a Furby. Black with a black stomach, white feet, ears and tail, it open green eyes as it was jarred away by being set down. It yawned and said "Uuuuh. Sun up. Me Ah-Toh."
     Draco petted it's back and it made a weird noise, not unlike Joe's trilling noise, just deeper. Draco grinned as the most of the rest of the people jumped in shock.
     "What is that?" Snape finally asked.
     "It's a Furby." Draco answered, then pushed the thing's tongue down again. "Yum Wa!" The furby said. Raspberry and Harry laughed behind their hands.
     "And what, pray tell, is a 'Furby'?" Snape said, giving the toy a weird look.
     Draco smirked and looked down at his present. "It's a state of the art, electric muggle toy that talks, listens, plays and learns. It's pretty cool, really. It's name is Ah-Toh."
     "Interesting." Snape replied. "Where did you get it?"
     "Present." was the only reply. Then he covered the things face and once it was snoring, he began to eat breakfast.
     Draco carried his Furby around for the rest of the day. Harry watched as he got kicked out of the library when the thing started singing. He retreated to Raspberry's room, Harry arriving not much longer.
     "Merry Christmas boys." Raspberry sat at her desk feeding Joe mint M&M's, her favorite Muggle Candy. Joe sat up and trilled. The Furby on Draco's desk trilled back. It was kinda funny to see.
     "Merry Christmas Raspberry. Merry Christmas Potter. I just wanted to thank which ever one of you gave me Ah-Toh. It's pretty interesting, although it's impossible to figure out what gender it is."
     Harry snickered. "They're asexual. Neither nor. They can't mate, although you can buy Baby Furbys. They're smaller, don't dance and pastel colored. They aren't as smart, too."
     Draco just shook his and went back to feeding Ah-Toh. Raspberry winked over his shoulder at Harry, and Harry just smiled to himself.

*~*~*~*~*

End notes: Well, school starts next week. Contrary to popular belief, this won't make me write slower, I'll actually get chapters out quicker then I did this summer, cuz I'll have peeps physically hitting me if I don't update. Arigato if you got this far.

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