Dobby looked at the pile of Christmas presents he had to deliver and grinned; he had been lucky to be chosen to deliver several of the Professors' gifts this year, a great honor for any house elf.

To Professor Trelawney he delivered a box of exotic coffees from Professor Dumbledore, a crystal butterfly for her collection from Vector, and a new book from Sisteria.

To Professor Flitwick Dobby left a Muggle book called 'The Three Musketeers' from Professor Dumbledore, a rather expensive bottle of enchanted ink from Professor McGonagal, a box of homemade fudge from Hagrid, a little bonsai tree from Professor Sprout, and a new grass green cloak from his two daughters.

For Professor Sprout there was a Muggle music box enchanted to play 102 different songs from Professor Dumbledore, a book on healing charms from Professor Flitwick, a bottle of vanilla hand-lotion from Professor McGonagal, a hand-knitted pumpkin orange pair of mittens from Hagrid, and a rather long letter and a box of white chocolates from her sister.

To Professor McGonagal the house elf delivered a bottle of her favorite lavender perfume from Professor Dumbledore, a box of assorted bath salts from Professor Sprout, a bright pink crocheted scarf from Hagrid, and a book from Sisteria.

For Professor Snape there were only gifts from Professor Dumbledore. Dobby blinked but shrugged as he set out the presents; a heavy black cloak, a pair of thick black socks, a note pinned to these telling the wizard to dress warmly, and a plush teddy bear with light brown fur and a red ribbon tied around its neck.

Dobby finally lugged a box upstairs for Professor Dumbledore. Inside were many pairs of socks, one from each of the teachers and three students. There was a knitted canary yellow pair from Hagrid, a pair with flapping snitches from Professor Hooch, a pair charmed to sing Christmas carols from Professor Flitwick, a pair that changed into bunny slippers after 9:00 from Professor McGonagal, a stripped yellow and red pair from Professor Sprout, a pair that changed color to match with whatever the owner was wearing from Professor Snape, a ruffled blue pair from Sisteria, a pair with little squeaking mince from Professor Trelawney, a pair with yellow winking smiley faces from Harry, and so on.

Dobby had just come back down to the kitchen when he saw a gift on the table for him form Harry. He opened it carefully, his ears trembling. Inside were two pairs of socks; a blue pair covered in twinkling stars and a bright purple pair with white polka-dots. Dobby hugged them to his chest, squeaking happily. Harry Potter was always so nice to him. Though for the life of him, he could never understand why humans wanted two of one kind.

Dobby began to tug on one of each color when he heard a sad sniffling noise. Pausing, he looked around and saw a house elf sitting by herself, arms around her chest protectively. Dobby heart dropped. He felt bad for the unhappy house elf, no one should be so unhappy and without friends on Christmas. Looking down at the other mismatched socks, he quickly made a decision. Picking up one of each he put his hands behind his back and padded over to her.

"Happy Christmas, Winky," Dobby said softly. The other house elf looked up quickly, her odd little face streaked with tears. "These is for you," Dobby rushed on, handing her the socks. Winky looked down at the gift and then back up a Dobby. The oddity of the socks helped lift some of the gloom that had settled itself around her. "Winky thanks Dobby," she whispered. And her mouth curved into a very slight smile.