A/N: This is written for the Fanfiction Tournament Christmas Round and for the Favourite House Boot Camp Challenge with the prompt 'snowflakes'. I have been distracted by a lot recently and my muses haven't been as loud as normal, but I hope that can soon change and the speed of updates can increase.
)o(
Bellatrix could smell the wafting enticing scent of roast meat and Yorkshire pudding. She could hear the high pitched wail of carols echoing from the open doorway. She could feel the chill of snowflakes in her hair. It was so very obvious what time of year it was, but it did not matter.
Christmas did not matter.
When she was younger, the holiday had been a welcome occasion. It had been a time to return home and to have a rest from the filth that infected Hogwarts and to finally has some decent food. Her and her sisters had been showered with gifts and had been a wonderful time.
She did not think about that now. She could barely look back at anything let alone something as unimportant as a silly occasion.
There were only a few things that mattered and all revolved around her magnificent master.
Cissy did not understand. Her sister was still a frivolous little thing. She and Draco may have been the only two within the home now her sister's useless excuse for a husband was finally suffering in prison, but she had insisted on putting all of her efforts behind a feast and festive feel.
Useless. Even her weak son who was only slowly progressing towards his goals, was uninterested it. It was tearing Cissy apart, but still Cissy did not understand what really mattered.
Only Bella did.
Perhaps it could have been different. If her Lord had been residing in the manor like he had for a few months throughout the year , the season would have felt merry. It would not have just been an honour but to even glance upon him would have blessed her with all the Christmas presents of her lifetime.
It was not to be. The Ministry incident was fresh in his mind and his fury had decreased but it had not yielded completely. She had failed him and her punishment was more severe than anything else- extraction from his presence. Only her lord would be wise enough to come up with such an effective punishment.
However, it left her lost. She did not even have Rodolphus. Of course he was so often a useless waste of space, though it would have been someone to combat her sister's festive spirit.
Sinking down into the slush, she kneeled down the cold seeping into her robes as she closed her eyes. It would have been so easy to sink into her memories but she could not. It may have been Christmas but she did not have those liberties. They could be so very dangerous. Azkaban had highlighted all her negative thoughts and she always found herself confronted by horror and a glimpse of a sister she had hoped she had forgotten.
Instead she stretched out. Her hands curled around a chunk of slush. It was as grey as her hands and dirty nails. She felt the shock of the sudden chill seep through her nut she did not release her grip. She only tightened it and watched as the volume slowly decreased and melted away.
It left her hand numb.
If only it was as simple for the rest of her.