"Oh, it's a little chilly today." In the yard at the Burrow, Harry adjusted the scarf around his neck and spoke with studied casualness.
Tris, Ron, Fred, George, and even Sirius all gave him looks of disdain. Nobody bothered to answer him.
Harry did not feel embarrassed at all. He adjusted his scarf again, looking utterly delighted with himself.
Harry was not showing off because the scarf was particularly attractive. In fact, while the material was decent, the workmanship was decidedly average, even somewhat crude.
Harry loved it so much for one reason alone: Cho Chang had knitted it herself-of course, she might have used a little magic along the way, but for a witch, didn't using magic count as making it herself?
The scarf was Cho Chang's Christmas present to him.
Sirius's Christmas present might have cost over a hundred Galleons, and everyone else's presents might have been thoughtful, exquisite, and beautiful, but in Harry's eyes, none of them could compare with that poorly made scarf.
It was Cho Chang's love made tangible.
So Harry wore the scarf at all times except when eating or bathing. What? Why didn't he wear it while eating? Because he was afraid of getting it dirty, of course!
Harry had not mastered Scourgify well enough yet, and it would be awful if he got the scarf dirty. Oh, and the day after receiving it, he had begged Sirius to teach him Scourgify. He was practicing hard...
"Hey, Remus? Was James ever like this back then?" Sirius asked Remus beside him, amused.
"No." Remus shook his head firmly.
Harry felt a little embarrassed for a moment when he heard that.
But Remus's next words made his embarrassment vanish. "James didn't start dating Lily until seventh year, so he barely received any presents from her.