Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates Christmas!
This fic will be 13 chapters in all, with chapters published daily from Christmas to Epiphany (January 6th). The chapters are separate snapshots, focusing on various characters in the Shadowhunter Chronicles universe. Any that mention a Christmas someone never in the title had take place in alternate fix-it universes.
I hope you enjoy, and again, Happy Holidays!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Shadowhunter Chronicles.
Chapter 1: The Christmas the London Institute Never Had
Tessa woke early on Christmas morning, as she had every year since she was a child. For a moment, although her room at the Institute was familiar now, she felt a shock of confusion as to where she was. It would be her first Christmas without Nate and her aunt.
It would also be her first Christmas with the inhabitants of the London Institute, which Tessa thought had the potential to be just as good.
"Happy Christmas, Miss Tessa," Sophie stated as she entered the bedroom.
"Merry Christmas!" Tessa replied, beaming. "Isn't it a lovely morning?"
"If you say so," Sophie replied, sounding amused. Tessa realized why a moment later; Sophie pulled back the curtains to reveal the damp, gray streets of London, a slight drizzle in the air. It did nothing to ruin Tessa's mood.
"Sophie, if you wouldn't mind, could you open the wardrobe?" Tessa asked, slipping her feet into her slippers and pulling her robe around herself. Sophie frowned slightly, but did as Tessa asked, crossing to the wardrobe and opening it.
Hanging on the inside of the door was a deep green dress, cut perfectly to flatter Sophie. "I- I don't understand," Sophie stammered. Tessa stood and pulled Sophie into a tight hug from behind, resting her chin on Sophie's shoulder.
"It's a present for you," she told her. "I thought you'd look lovely in the color. It'll bring out the green in your eyes."
"How?" Sophie breathed, her hand hovering a few inches from the dress as if she were afraid to touch it.
"Charlotte helped me," Tessa admitted. "She has your measurements from other dresses she's had made for you, and then I had this dress made with money from my dress allowance. I hope you like it."
"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever owned," Sophie whispered. "But what will I do with it?"
"That's the other part of my present," Tessa replied, beaming. "The next time you go out with Gideon Lightwood, I'll be your lady's maid. We'll get you all prettied up in this dress and Gideon will be even more stunned than usual at your beauty."
"You- Oh, Miss Tessa." Sophie brushed the silk of the green dress with the tips of her fingers. When she turned to face Tessa, the joy on her face made her so beautiful Tessa barely noticed her scar. "Thank you so much, Miss Tessa."
"You're my friend," Tessa told Sophie, taking her hands. "And friends give each other gifts for Christmas."
"Do you have gifts for the others?" Sophie asked as she pulled out the deep burgundy dress that Tessa was going to wear that day. Tessa nodded.
"I have a little pair of booties for Charlotte and Henry's baby and a pearl necklace for Jessamine. I wasn't sure what to get for the Lightwoods, but I ended up getting each of them a new cravat. I don't know if they'll like them, but I thought they'd be useful. I found a beautiful necklace with a dried forget-me-not for Cecily. And I bought some lovely cufflinks for Magnus, to send off to him, I suppose."
"And for Master Will and Master Jem?" Sophie asked, a teasing hint in her voice as she helped Tessa out of her nightgown.
Tessa blushed slightly. "I bought Will a lovely edition of A Christmas Carol, and I bought Jem Vivaldi sheet music for his violin."
"I'm sure they'll love their presents," Sophie replied, smiling knowingly. "Will you be spending the evening together?"
"Yes, most likely," Tessa replied. It was somewhat of an open secret in the Institute that Tessa, Will, and Jem were all tied together by a bond that was not mere friendship. Tessa was still engaged to Jem, but any sort of married life between the two would inevitably include Will as well. Jem and Will's souls were entwined, Tessa thought, and to love one was to love the other. She could no more have kept Will from her relationship with Jem than she could have stopped the tide itself.
Sophie helped Tessa dress and arranged her hair beautifully. "Do you need my help with anything else, Miss Tessa?" Sophie asked once Tessa was finished. "Miss Jessamine will be waiting."
"I'm fine, Sophie," Tessa replied, adjusting the jade pendant Jem had given her. Sophie smiled slightly as she left the room.
"You look lovely," a soft voice told Tessa a minute later. She angled her mirror with a smile, showing Jem in the doorway, leaning forward on his cane. Will was behind him, grinning widely.
"As do you," Tessa replied, standing. Both were dressed in their best clothes, a scarlet cravat at Jem's throat and a green one at Will's. "I would have thought a red cravat would look morbid, but it looks quite dashing on you," Tessa told Jem.
"Will insisted on it," Jem replied ruefully, tugging on the cravat slightly. "He insisted that the red would look better on me than on him."
"He was correct," Tessa replied. Will made an outraged face.
"I'll have you know I would look just as good in a red cravat!" he cried. "I simply thought the red suited Jem better than the green, and the green suited me better than the red."
"And you were correct," Tessa replied soothingly. "You both look absolutely beautiful."
"And you, dearest Tess, outshine us both," Will added, bending over and brushing a kiss against Tessa's hand. "You are a Christmas vision."
"Surely I cannot outshine your beauty," Tessa countered. Jem shook his head.
"Oh, Tessa, our sweet Tessa, you most certainly can."
Tessa smiled as Jem took one of her arms and Will the other. The trio went down the hallway to the library, where Tessa knew the enormous Christmas tree waited. Charlotte was already waiting there, sitting by the tree while Henry sat at her feet, leaning against her legs. The Lightwoods were there as well, having some soft discussion, and, amusing himself by changing the colors of the candles, was Magnus Bane.
"Magnus!" Tessa cried, beaming. Magnus turned, his smile wide.
"Lovely Tessa. How lovely to see you."
"I thought you were off in New York?" Tessa asked. Magnus shrugged.
"I was, and now I'm back. I wanted to be here for Christmas. I made a Portal to hop over here."
"Perhaps you three can entertain Magnus while we wait for the others," Charlotte offered. Tessa heard the unsaid, Before he burns down the Institute somehow. Tessa wished she could say that Magnus would do no such thing, but there was no way of being sure.
"I'm sure the story of how you three have been doing recently would be enough to entertain me," Magnus told Tessa, wiggling his eyebrows. Jem flushed slightly, but Will just laughed.
"And have you been to see Woolsey yet, or do you have some new paramour in New York?" he asked Magnus, who shrugged.
"Woolsey has more important things to do than see me. And I haven't met anyone special in New York, no."
"You'll find someone, I'm sure," Tessa comforted.
"I'm sure I will," Magnus replied. "I am rather incredible, after all. But right now, I want to hear about what's happening with the three of you. Tell me all the dirty little details."
"There are no 'dirty little details,'" Tessa replied scoldingly. "And you're embarrassing poor Jem." It was true; Jem's face was shockingly red.
"Are you three happy, at least?" Magnus asked, his voice much softer.
"Very happy," Jem murmured. Magnus beamed.
"Then that's plenty. I hope you remain so."
"Cecily, Jessie, Sophie, Happy Christmas to you all," Charlotte called a moment later, as the other girls appeared at the door. "Shall we open presents now?"
"I already have the two presents I want right beside me," Will murmured, reaching down to take Tessa and Jem's hands. Tessa reached forward to link hands with Jem as well. She hoped that the slight squeeze told both of them she felt the same way.
Considering the way they squeezed back, she thought they did.