Chapter 231: The Firebolt

By the time Ivan returned to the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione had already returned. She was sitting at the bar, absently listening to Harry beside her.

In front of the two people were two large glasses of orange juice, constantly blowing bubbles.

It looked very delicious, but neither of them seemed to have the heart to drink juice.

Hermione blushed, unconsciously playing with her own cup, remembering again and again how Ivan kissed her under the mistletoe.

She hadn't expected them to kiss that night.

It seemed to feel good. Hermione still remembered Ivan's smell.

Of course, despite the sweetness of that moment, she now had to calm down and think about it. This behavior was too embarrassing, too outrageous.

The more Hermione thought about it, the more she blushed, and her head was a mess; completely unaware of what Harry was saying, sitting next to her.

She didn't know how to face Ivan again, whether things would go on as they were, or....

Being too timid, Hermione ran back to the Leaky Cauldron without thinking. She thought Ivan would be back soon, but now that she had been there so long, and she didn't see Ivan's figure, she was restless again.

She wasn't sure if she should go out to look for Ivan. He might still be waiting for her in that alley, or he was angry that she suddenly left.

Perhaps, she should explain herself...

Unlike Hermione, who was distraught, Harry was in a good mood.

He looked around excitedly, laughing happily all the while. This was Harry's first Christmas party. He was surrounded by Lupin, Sirius, Ivan and Hermione. He was completely free and unscrupulous. There was no need to talk about so many rules.

In his last thirteen years, this sort of thing was simply unthinkable.

Every Christmas at the Dursleys, he would sit sadly beside Dudley, eating the terrible food Aunt Petunia gave him, looking, enviously, at Dudley showing off his Christmas presents, or hiding in a cupboard under the stairs, alone.

Even if he had been at Christmas at Hogwarts for the past two years, there was no such feeling.

In Harry's opinion, this year's Christmas was the best. And to make it all even better, he had just received a Christmas present from Sirius.

First, he thought Sirius had forgotten about it, and he felt a little depressed.

He knew Sirius wasn't to blame. There was so much going on today, especially after the Regulus thing, Sirius must have been sad to death.

It never occurred to Harry that Sirius hadn't forgotten him, and that he had carefully prepared a Christmas present for him.

And this gift was a real firebolt, the same one he used to look at and dream about every day when he was in Diagon Alley during the summer vacations.

This was really unbelievable, and Harry couldn't believe it until now.

He knew the price of the firevolt, which was astronomical. As Ivan said, a firebolt could be more expensive than all the Hogwarts students' broomsticks combined, and even Malfoy wouldn't get such a valuable Christmas present.

The firebolt had surpassed the general gift category, and this incredible world-class broomstick, costing a staggering price, was by all accounts a work of art.

Only professional Quidditch players could own it.

And now, he had a firebolt himself!

Harry had dreamed it countless times, but in the end he woke up to a cruel reality. He thought he would be satisfied with his beloved Nimbus 2000!

When his Nimbus 2000 had been smashed by the Box Willow in the match against Hufflepuff two months ago, Harry had thought his Quidditch life had lost its meaning.

But now, Sirius had given him a firebolt.

Harry would never forget the scene in his life, even though Sirius had repeatedly explained that this firebolt was compensation for Harry's unintentional slip when Black appeared at the Quidditch match in his Animagus form, scaring him.

But Harry knew it wasn't his fault. He just wanted to see how he looked in the game. It was the Dementors who finally shattered his Nimbus 2000.

Looking at the fidgeting Sirius, Harry had no idea what he should say.

He merely hugged the other man, using all his strength, and tears of mixed joy and emotion welled up uncontrollably.

From Sirius, Harry felt the affection of family he had never had.

He sat in front of the bar excitedly, looking down the hallway of Diagon Alley, waiting for Ivan to return. First he would take him to look at his firebolt.

Ivan had just opened the door and entered the Leaky Cauldron when Harry and Hermione came running up to him, both running as if they had something to say.

He was standing there, wondering what was going on.

All he had on his mind at the moment were things related to vampires. He was going to collect some magic books about those bloodsuckers, and learn more about their magic.

If he ever saw that girl named Elaine again, he wouldn't be so passive.

Ivan's thoughts were forcibly pushed away by the vampire and he looked at Harry and Hermione, who had strange expressions on their faces. He didn't know what was going on with them!

Harry smiled and it seemed that something pleasant had happened.

Hermione, standing behind him, was blushing and looking at Ivan in a very unnatural way. The girl must still be thinking about what happened between them.

Ivan just looked at her, and she hurriedly looked away.

As if she knew of his misbehavior, Hermione apparently took a deep breath and clenched her fists.

The next second, her gaze receded and she had the courage to look back at Ivan.

Hermione's expression returned to normal, looking the same as always, except for her flushed face.

In fact, Hermione's face looked calm, but her heart was pounding.

When Ivan finally stopped looking at her, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Ivan didn't know Hermione's real state. Deep down, he was somewhat disappointed.

If it hadn't been for the vampire girl who came out of nowhere, he was going to confess to Hermione tonight.

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, but now he missed it.

It was a shame though, Ivan thought carefully. This was the usual Hermione.

There would be other opportunities. Suddenly, he'd be looking forward to next Christmas....

Beside her, Harry noticed nothing unusual about them. He said cheerfully, "Come on, Ivan, I'll show you something..."

He ran upstairs with Ivan, Hermione followed them.

"Show me what?" said Ivan quizzically. "What happened? why are you so happy?"

"I just got a present from Sirius. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. Guess what Sirius gave me." Harry turned to look at Ivan.

"I know. It's a firebolt!" Ivan realized why Harry was so excited.

He already knew. If it wasn't for so many things going on today, Sirius would have already sent this gift, and he wouldn't have waited until now.

"How do you know that?" Harry looked at Ivan in surprise.

"You forgot that on the last day of the Christmas party, I secretly accompanied Hermione to Hogsmeade. I saw Sirius, who was on the run, risking getting caught. He went to the Owlery Post Office to order the broom." Ivan explained, "I thought you had already received it!"

Harry listened to Ivan's explanation and thought of Sirius who had come so far for him. He was even more moved.