A special gift for a special girl

I rested my head against the back of the couch.

Staring at the ceiling, I sighed slightly, it was Hermione's birthday soon. 5 days to be exact. I was wondering what I should get her. What would a nerd like her want?

To be honest, one of the things I sucked at, like most men, was understanding the mind of a woman. Hermione was smart, but she was picky with her food, didn't like certain colours, loved tidiness and hated tardiness. She loved books and pastries but hated sour foods. She liked the smell of morning dew in summer and spring but hated winter and the smell of autumn. She got cold easily, but never got hot, she loved cats and hated rats. Not surprising considering canon.

I thought about all the little details that I witnessed and vividly remembered about her and started to smile. at some point, Fred began to stare at me with curiosity. Feeling his gaze on me I lazily turned towards him, still resting my head on the back of the couch.

"What? Something on my face?" I asked.

Fred continued to look at me before smiling mischievously.

"You like someone don't you?"

Suddenly the whole room quietened down, as every head turned towards me with incredulous looks on their faces.

Jenna and Abby were both intensely curious about knowing who this girl was, and how she was able to catch my attention. It was written all over their faces.

John scoffed slightly to show his lack of care and continued to moisturise his hands. Yet, from the mirror in front of him, I caught his eyes shifting slightly, clearly, he was curious. What a tsundere. I laughed slightly before shrugging.

"What is there to tell, she's smart, as smart as me, she's talented, pretty and fun to be around. But she's an annoying little brat, picky and competitive beyond measure. But what's terrifying is her instinct, I swear she can see right through me." I said, a cold shiver crawled down my spine. I couldn't help it, I remembered the time on my way to Ilvermorny, she clearly knew I was talking about her.

"Do you like her or hate her?" Robert teased. Instantly everyone else laughed slightly while nodding.

"Hmm, but you seem troubled by something. Is there something we can do to help?" Percival asked.

I was rather surprised at how sensitive and attentive he was to notice.

I didn't hide anything and told them about her up and coming birthday and my lack of adequate birthday present ideas.

"Ohh, and here I thought it was something serious. I bet she would like anything you give her. I'm sure she probably likes you back considering how much time you two spent together. But if you want to be thoughtful, get her something that's useful, convenient, beautiful yet also reminds her of you." Abby said suddenly.

Everyone was completely flabbergasted. Even my eyes widened at her words, the usually aloof Abby could actually provide advice on such a matter? Wasn't she meant to be some emotionless combat robot from the future?

Robert was the only one who was deep in thought, clearly, he was memorising her words to use them later.

As we stared at her, Abby finally realised, and her face contorted into a twisted frown, her cheeks reddening slightly.

"I'm not some cave troll living under a mountain you know. I'm still a girl, and I have had all sort of gifts given to me. some were good since they had everything I just mentioned, and some were bad, missing the things I mentioned. I'm simply talking from experienced. My mother also told me something similar," she said in annoyance.

She clearly felt uncomfortable and spat out those words quickly before burying her head in her book in an attempt to hide from the gazes of everyone else.

It was rare to see Abby so shy, but her words sounded fine when I thought about it.

"Something that's both useful, convenient, beautiful yet also reminds her of me." I mumbled to myself. My eyes wandered around the room trying to find inspiration before they landed on my wrist.

There was a black bracelet, really plain and inconspicuous. People wouldn't even give it a second glance. But it also gave me a good idea. She was complaining about always having to carry her trunk and books and other items around causing her to become exhausted by the end of the day. She was planning on getting one after this year, but I could give her one that's personalised ahead of time.

I thought about the design and cross-referenced it with what Hermione liked. She loved flowers, when we were talking about me going to Hawaii, she mentioned how much she loved Plumeria leis, due to its incredible beauty, soft foam-like petals and its amazing smell. She loved the pink ones most.

I jotted all of this down and even began to draw designs. It was a metal ring, with lots of those flowers welded on it. But they would move with magic, have a pink colour, and even release a smell that complimented her mood.

Meaning that when she was happy, she would release the amazing smell that the Plumeria leis were known for. When she was upset, the smell of morning dew would seep out, which, according to her, was always able to cheer her up. When she was angry, the smell of toothpaste would seep out, she loved that smell in canon, so I thought that might be adequate. When she was stressed the smell of pages from an old book would flow out, she always felt relaxed when she dived into her world of books.

I loved paying attention to her when she was reading, she always seemed so blissful when she did.

As I wrote all of this down, Fred, Jenna and everyone else began to gather around. I didn't realise it in the moment since I was so concentrated on making the perfect gift.

"Wow, aren't you considerate and romantic?" Jenna's teasing voice sounded over my shoulder startling me. I jumped lightly in my seat before stiffly turning around to see everyone looking at me with playful smiles.

"Well, I was following Abby's suggestion, the bracelet is not only for decoration and to lift her mood, but also to store things in. But what can I add to remind her of me?" I asked.

This was the part that was puzzling me the most. I had no idea what I should add that would remind her of me.