Chapter Text
One evening in late December, Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter were just goofing around in their empty dormitory, talking about whatever came to their minds.
“You want a chocolate frog, Harry?” Ron held one in Harry's direction.
“No thank you,” the other boy replied.
“Take one. You're weirdly small. My Dad met your parents once or twice and he says they both were tall. And you barely eat anything! It's almost like you're used to being hungry all the time!”
Ron noted that Harry flinched, but didn't comment on it. He didn't want his friend to be uncomfortable.
“Not to forget that chocolate frogs are absolutely amazing! Not as good as my mom's chocolate fudge though. I really hope she sends me some. What do you want for Christmas?”
Harry reluctantly accepted one and the boys each started to unwrap one.
“I don't think I’ll get anything. I mean, last year I got a toothbrush, and the year before that I got a half-used eraser.”
Ron dropped the frog he was holding. The frog jumped on the floor and ran away, but Ron didn't care.
“What!?” he yelled in protest.
“It's nothing, I'm used to it. Just, forget it, okay?” Harry desperately tried to dismiss it.
Ron didn't know what to do. On the one hand, Ron needed to respect Harry's wishes if he wanted Harry to respect his. On the other hand this was not nothing, despite what Harry apparently thought - and wasn't that horrible? If Harry's muggle relatives treated him like this Harry could not stay there! After a minute of sitting in silence, Ron decided to do the only thing he could think of.
He ran to his older brothers for advice.
XXXXX
George and Fred were still in the common room with Percy. While the latter was studying, the former were playing Exploding Snap.
Suddenly they all heard someone running down the stairs. Knowing that only they, Ron and Harry were staying in Gryffindor, they looked towards the boys' dorm. Seconds later, the door slammed open and their younger brother jumped down the stairs.
“Thank Merlin you're all here! I need your help! And I need to borrow Hermes!”
“No Ronald you will not borrow Hermes.”
“But it’s an emergency!”
Percy shook his head. “It can wait until tomo-”
“Harry never gets Christmas Gifts you git!” Ron interrupted.
There was a minor explosion as George and Fred dropped their cards. Percy paled.
“Okay, write to mom right now,” Percy ordered, dragging Ron to a nearby table.
“Yeah, can’t have our new brother not getting presents,” George stated.
“The worst thing is that he just dismissed it as if it were a normal thing!” Ron complained.
“What?” Percy questioned. This was impossible. It was Harry Potter they were talking about. Surely someone must have checked on the boy! But the more Percy thought about it, the more obvious it seemed. Harry was very small for his age, weirdly polite, and never seemed to eat enough.
Fred and George too seemed to have realized something.
“Ronniekins, did you just leave Harry alone after you found out?” Fred voiced his thoughts.
“Holy Merlin! I did!”
Ron ran back upstairs, leaving his brothers to plot.
XXXXX
Meanwhile Harry was still in the dorm panicking.
For a few seconds he had just sat there not moving and not thinking. But then he realized what he had done.
He hadn’t meant to let it slip! Surely Ron would not want to be friends with him any longer. He was a freak after all. And who, if not a freak, would be locked up by their own relatives, by their own family.
Harry continued worrying for a couple of minutes until Ron returned.
“Sorry for leaving you alone,” Ron stated one he caught his breath. “I just really didn’t know what to do and I needed advice so I went to ask my brothers. I still shouldn’t have left you alone.”
Then Ron rushed to Harry and hugged him.
Harry was puzzled. That wasn’t what he had been expecting at all...but he could not say he was sad about this.
XXXXX
It was almost midnight when Molly got her son’s owl in Romania. Arthur and Charlie were still downstairs, talking about dragon’s in muggle story books, but she had not been interested in the topic, so she decided to let them be (after a warning not to take stay up much longer). She spotted Hermes in the night sky just as she was about to go to bed and instantly worried. What if one of her sons was hurt? Why else would her boys send Hermes so late when they had just sent Errol a few hours earlier?
When Hermes arrived she quickly untied the letter and read it. It was obviously written hastily, and from Ron going by the handwriting.
Hey Mom!
Harry just mentioned he doesn’t think he'll get any presents. We can’t let that happen.
Love Ron
Molly reread the letter twice to make sure she hadn’t misread or misinterpreted the content, but no, it really said that Harry, the sweet little boy from King’s Cross, did not think he would get presents.
Immediately, she returned to the living room and got out her needles and her yarn. Her son was right, they were not about to leave poor Harry without presents on Christmas (and what about his birthday?). Molly would not let that happen to any child if she had anything to say about that.
“Mom? I thought you wanted to go to bed?”
“I did, but I got an owl from Ron. I need to start knitting again.”
“I thought you were done?” Her husband questioned, “Or did we get another kid and no one told me?”
“I told you about that polite little boy on the platform, right?” Both Arthur and Charlie nodded.
“Ron just informed me that poor Harry does not expect presents.”
Both of their jaws dropped.
Then Charlie grimaced as he realized what that meant while his father asked how he could help.
Molly had a great family.
XXXXX
Meanwhile Fred, George, and Percy were planning something themselves.
Professor McGonagall always told them that their house would be like their family, and now it was the time to act like it.
The three boys took it upon themselves to write letters to anyone that Harry might consider a friend to their knowledge. Hagrid, Hermione, Neville, Katie, Angelina, Alicia, Oliver, Dean and Seamus were just the start (unknown to the trio, Hagrid wrote to the friends of Harry’s parents the second he heard of it). At the same time, they also wrote a list with everything they could think of that might be a suitable present for Harry.
That boy would not be without presents this Christmas even if it was the last thing they would do.
Percy was also beginning a project of his own. He was going to sit down with Harry, and figure out just what was going on at his home.
Who were his caretakers? Why would they not get Harry anything for Christmas? Was it financial problems, perhaps? Or was there something else going on? He certainly thought so, but he needed to make sure before he did something drastic.
But what would he do if there was something else going on? What would need to be done? He was a school prefect after all, and it was part of his job as a school Prefect to ensure the comfort and safety of his housemates.
At this thought, he began composing a letter to his Dad. As a ministry official, he will have some idea as to what would be legally necessary.
He would also be reporting this to Professor McGonagall. She will probably have some useful advice for how to talk to Harry. She may even want to be part of the conversation.