Hermione stared at Ivan reproachfully, but was curious as to what he was talking about.
Perhaps deciding that her gift was certainly not as valuable as Ivan's, Hermione gave in after a moment's hesitation, though she did speak with emphasis.
"Fine, I'll take it out first, but you can't use Legilimency!"
"Don't worry, I'm sure I won't have to!" Ivan promised, thumping his chest. He didn't mean to lie, because that was the thing about surprises. Once you found out, you weren't surprised enough.
Hermione drew her wand from the black silk belt around her waist and waved it gently in the air. Specks of fluorescence shot out from the tip of the wand and gradually transformed into a long strip of material, which, guided by the wand, became more solid.
Not bad, Yvonne thought, impressed. He could see it was a trick, of course. Hermione must have used a Shrinking Charm to temporarily hide the object, then used fluorescent light to draw his attention and enlarge it.
However, this did not mean that she had to expose him, and Ivan pretended to be interested as Hermione conjured a brown scarf out of thin air.
"Is this for me?" Yvonne asked Hermione, seeing that the scarf was different, not as delicate as it had been marketed, with rough edges. "You knitted it yourself?"
Hermione nodded shyly and whispered, "Mrs Weasley taught me that this summer, and I saw that you didn't have a scarf yet, so…"
Hermione trailed off, looking at Ivan expectantly and apprehensively.
She hesitated for a long time over her choice of Christmas gift this year. She wanted to give Ivan a book as usual, but she felt that it would not help Ivan. She wanted her gift to make more sense, so she knitted a scarf herself.
"This is the best Christmas present I've ever had. Can you put it on me?" Yvonne beamed at her.
Hermione nodded, took a deep breath, and, blushing, slowly wrapped the scarf around his neck.
They were close enough to hear each other breathe.
Perhaps because it was her first time tying someone's scarf, or because she was nervous, Hermione was unable to get it done.
Ivan, on the other hand, was not in a hurry at all. His eyes were fixed on the girl's exquisite face, which was inches away from him, and he was enjoying the way she was playing with her scarf.
After a while, Hermione straightened her scarf, stepped back, and returned to her original position, standing there looking at him with her hands clasped behind her back.
Ivan knew that she was looking forward to his gift, so he did not keep her in suspense. He took out a pendant from his wizard robe pocket and showed it to her.
It was a strange-looking pendant, shaped like a crescent moon and held together by a long silver chain.
"It's beautiful!" Hermione murmured, gazing at it in fascination.
However, she soon noticed that there were many fine cracks on the surface of the crescent pendant, as if it was badly damaged. She then looked at Ivan in confusion.
"It was a Christmas present from my mother, Alicia, at Christmas in my first year… a very delicate magical object that will protect the bearer from a mortal wound once…" Ivan explained, looking wistful.
Hermione was both shocked and horrified. She could certainly see what the damage to the crescent meant. Did it mean Ivan had nearly died once?
"Is it when the Philosopher's Stone is protected?" Hermione asked anxiously, suddenly thinking of this.
Although she did not see the actual battle, it was clearly a brutal one.
When she arrived with Dumbledore, the house was in ruins, and Ivan was unconscious for two days.
Ivan nodded fearfully, but before he could say anything, Hermione threw herself at him and hugged him fiercely.
His intermittent cries soon reached his ears, and his robes seemed to have been soaked.
"That was a long time ago. It's all in the past, isn't it?" Yvonne hadn't expected such a reaction from the little witch. She tried to comfort her, feeling awkward and sorry for herself. She shouldn't have told her…
Hermione did not reply, but lay in Ivan's arms, letting out her panic, wanting to berate him for his risky actions, but unable to do so.
Because they had gone on that adventure together, Ivan had done nothing wrong, and if they hadn't stopped Quirrell, You-Know-Who would have used the stone's resurrection to wreak havoc in the wizarding community.
What really pained Hermione was her own inability to help when it mattered.
It took Ivan a while to calm her down, and then he placed the necklace on her finger and gently wiped the tears from her eyes.
"It fits, and it's beautiful!" Ivan said admiringly, looking at her.
The former referred to the pendant, while the latter referred to Hermione with the pendant.
Although the little witch had cried and her eyes were red, this did not affect her charm at all. Instead, it covered up her usual dominance and accentuated her feminine beauty.
As Hermione gently touched the crescent moon pendant around her neck, her initial feelings of unease and fear were gradually replaced by happiness. She did not mind that it was a damaged magical object, as she knew how precious and special it was.
With that in mind, Hermione tried to thank Ivan, but he interrupted her.
"Wait… it's not over yet!"
Hermione looked at Ivan in confusion, not quite understanding what he meant.
"I think it's time to fix it!" Ivan said with a smile, reaching out to pick up the crescent moon pendant.
Ivan then closed his eyes and concentrated on using the Conduction Magic of Professor Nicolas Flamel, infusing the pendant with his emotions.
Hermione was too nervous to move or speak, for fear of disturbing Ivan.
Gradually, a brilliant golden light began to shine through Ivan's fingers. It was so warm that Hermione could feel the power of it.
This went on for half a minute before Ivan opened his eyes again. He looked tired, and when he opened his hand, the crescent moon pendant in his palm had become perfect. The fine cracks had disappeared without a trace, and one could see golden fluorescence flowing on it.