What a troublesome Christmas Day.
The snow was bright like a shining light, falling snowflakes painted the streets with their pure, white colour.
Her hair was a shiny, golden colour, and her dress was as white as the snow. She looked like an angel, her blue, innocent eyes fixed at the sky, and the shopping-bags held with her slim, manicured hands. She was cursing a little, ruining the impression of her pink, slightly parted lips. She was using a new lip-gloss today.
She tripped on some icy water, which almost made her fall to the wet ground. "Shit," she murmured under her breath. There was a sad tone in her voice. She found a key in her pocket and stumbled into building, where she lived. It was difficult to get to the apartment, since the bags were not exactly light weighted.
The heat from the apartment greeted her cold body; it was so chilly outside because of the snowy weather. The dress was almost soaked because she had not cared to remember a jacket in that weather.
The bags were left on the kitchen table; it had been kind of difficult to lift all those bags from the supermarket to the apartment, but she had done it.
Her eyes reached the phone, which had been quiet all day. Worry and panic ruled her emotions, and she picked it up, even though there was a possibility concerning, that it was not necessary at all. He was probably just busy, right?
The tone, that indicated, she was about to make a call, made her heart race. What if he would get annoyed?
"Hello," said a friendly, familiar voice.
"Hello," she heard her own, rather irritated, light voice say. "It is Dia-Dina Heart… Where's Nathan?" It was pretty dumb to introduce yourself with your formal name to someone, you already knew. Damn it, how could the person possibly forget, who Dina was?
"Oh," Dina heard the awkwardness in the voice of the girl's. "Nathan is with a healer right now. I am in charge of his phone until he is done. It is Clarissa, by the way."
I knew that already, she thought. Of course there was a bitter tone in her voice. Wish he had made someone else watch over it. I hate talking to you. "Then I will just call him later," She wanted to seem light-hearted, not troubled – mission accomplished. "Just tell him I called, okay?" Of course you won't. If it was up to you, we wouldn't be together…
"I will," Clarissa said. Dina wanted to punch her. "Bye, Dina."
"Bye, Clarissa." God, if you really could hate someone, Dina definitely hated her. Clarissa was a pain in the a… No, that was not the word for it. She was a bitch.
Dina rested her head in her hands. She looked at a picture on the wall; it was a picture of them. Nathan and Dina. He had his arm around her waist, and she was blushing rather awkwardly, since it was her stepfather who took the picture. It was taken at the beach, and she wore a bikini, and he was wearing shorts. Nathan was handsome-looking, when he was half-naked. Not in a sexual way, oh, in some way it was, but it was… Nathan. He had always been gorgeous, handsome and hot. His hair was blonde with natural, light brown highlights. That summer it had been recently cut, but now it was long enough to tease him, when it sneaked down to his eyes. Oh, his eyes… they hypnotized her. The colour of his eyes was blue, and when he was all intense, they would gloat in a very special way. He was muscular but not in a pumped way. More likely in an I-can-protect-you-and-beat-the-living-shit-out-of-a-guy-without-even-trying-kind-of-way. He was a bit taller than her, but people also referred to her as "quite petite". That could also be because of her figure. At Hogwarts, boys adored Dina because of her very noticeable curves, her slim figure and golden-blonde hair. One should think, they were made for each other, but it had not always been like that.
Nathan and Dina had been the love interests of many at Hogwarts. They both had their fair share of sexual experiences, and they were incredibly talented, when it came to flirting. The funny thing was… they had not met before their two best friends started dating. Ashley and Michael had met once and fell in love instantly. Dina had thought, she was crazy, but when she met Michael… Dina understood her feelings completely. The way they looked at each other. It was happiness and love mixed with rainbows and fluffy things. All the things, Dina had never obtained in her own "relationships". One day they met Michael with his "group" of friends. Jane, the only girl there, sweet and helpful, Justin, the quiet type and… there was Nathan in his own dashing self. It was pathetic, really. She could kill herself for all the embarrassing times she tried to make a move on him, and it just ended all awkward. She did not have much time to hate herself for her stupidity, because soon enough her life would learn from a very horrible downhill-experience.
Michael died. The memory of how things just fell apart was scaring her more than anything. Ashley had run away, and everyone had looked after her in the streets of London. Somewhere between the search after Ashley and when she returned, Dina had actually got herself a boyfriend. Alec. It had been very spontaneous, and she did not understand it, but somehow… it made Nathan very interested in her suddenly. But then again, how should she know, that he had been having the same feelings as her all along?
It had been one of the wild parties at Hogwarts, and Dina had been a little bit drunk. She had found Nathan in the middle of the crowd, and she could not remember how they ended up talking. Before she knew of it, they had both left the party and were talking in the Gryffindor Common Room. She remembered their weird conversation: it seemed to have no end, and they did not really talk about anything. It was just awkwardness, until he caught her gaze and kept it at his. She had tilted her head to the side, and he leaned in on her, sealing his lips with her. A sweet sensation filled her body as they leaned closer, her hands wanting to curl his hair, and as Nathans hand had caressed her cheek, she came back to reality with a snap. Dina had left him there alone. God, how could you forget, that you were a taken woman? It was a horrible thing to do, and the only thing she thought about for days was: Do you even deserve to be loved, Diana Heart? You cannot even stay true when someone loved you truly. She had broken up with Alec soon after. It was not fair to be with a boy, when you loved someone else than him. Now she had to convince herself and Nathan to try it out.
The only problem was that Nathan had distanced himself from her completely; and stupid as she was, she did not do anything about it besides gazing after him when he left a room or joined a group where she was. But then something crazy happened; Dina had been really hurt one day. Maybe because it became clear, how serious everything was. She had stormed up to the dormitory for the girls, and… surprisingly, Nathan followed her. He had had quite a fight with the magical staircase, but he reached her, their lips met, right there, and it had felt right. Sparks were flying, and then he said the magic words: "I want to be with you, Dina. Only you."
By the last day of Hogwarts at their seventh year, that special graduation day, Nathan had proposed to her. In the middle of everything and of course Dina had said yes. They were engaged, and she knew, they were meant to spend their entire life together. It was impossible to picture the future with anyone else.
The phone buzzed loudly and began to ring. Dina checked the clock in the kitchen. The food had to be ready before it was eight o'clock. Not that they always ate that late. It was Christmas Day.
She did not bother to check who was calling. "Hello, this is Dina," the tone had been rather impatient. Dina had been lost in her thoughts for over an hour.
"Hello Diana, my love." The feeling of the flip-flopping heart was still making her chuckle a little bit. To hear the voice of someone you love, that is the greatest medicine against negative problems all over the world. Or maybe it was just between those two. The gaping hole in her stomach made an appearing. God, he was missed.
"Nathan," she breathed with a smile on her face. "I miss you so much… I feel pretty ridiculous about it, since we live together, but I guess I am just used to see you all the time…"
He chuckled. "I miss you too, honey. I can't wait to come home and spent all night with you." It was obvious that he did not mean it that way, but she blushed none the less. He probably knew since Dina could feel by his tone that he was smirking slightly. "I know it will be fun as long as it's just me and you."
"I'm sure you know – when have we ever included anyone else," she purred. A golden lock of hair twirled between her fingers; a habit Dina had gotten a long time ago. "When are you coming home? I'm going to prepare dinner for us!" There was a horrifying silence, which made the blood in her veins freeze. "You are coming home, right, Nathan?"
Nathan inhaled slowly. That was not a good sign. "Dina, I wish the snow would stop falling, but… since magic can't control every fucking thing, apparently…" There was a little pause. He had to choose his words wisely. "I… have to stay here. The trains stopped driving hours ago, and I can't Spectral Transfer myself, since the weather will make a huge impact on my focus. Trust me, I would do it, if it wasn't for my instructor. He has already threatened me with suspension. If I can't take care of myself, I can't take care of anyone…" When Dina didn't say anything, he continued: "Dina, if there was a way I could see your beautiful face, hear your wonderful voice…"
"But there isn't a way, is there?" Dina's voice was angrier than necessary. She stood up with the phone in her hand and looked at the kitchen table. The food covered most of it. So much food… and he could not come home for Christmas. That stupid, fucking snow!
"They'll serve me food here, since it seems like we all have to stay here on Christmas Day." There was a disappointed tint in his voice. "I really looked forward to your cooking. You've become so much better since the first time you cooked for me." It was a nice try, but his cheery speech did not affect the mood of the conversation at all.
It was about to make her smile, when something came to mind: "Wait… that means she will spend Christmas Day with you, right?"
"Who will spend...? Oh." Another pause. He was probably either leaving the room or thinking. Maybe even both. "Nothing will happen, Dina. You know that, right? I love you, remember?"
"I love you too. But that doesn't make you come home to spend Christmas Day with me, Nathan. I can't believe it; it's our first Christmas when living together, and then we'll have to be separated! But do you know what the worst part is?" He told her to keep going with a comforting voice. She sighed. "The worst part is… I am so jealous of Clarissa. She's not your fiancée, and… yet she gets to spend more time with you than I do." The last part was added with a soft whisper.
"Oh, Diana, my dear, you have no idea how much I want to leave this place. I would do anything to be with y...," he trailed of like he was thinking of something. "I… have to go, love. You'll hear from me soon enough, okay? I love you."
Dina heard the click before she could respond. The silence was horrible.
The crying would just not stop. Dina sobbed once again and steered the cranberry sauce with a firm grip on the spoon. She wanted to prepare some food – even though the moment was pretty much ruined. Her stomach ached for food, and the groceries looked so delicious, so she cooked some of it for herself. She did not touch the goose, because that was on the menu for tomorrow. What if Nathan could not come home until the weekend was over? In all her years of existing, she had never thought, she would hate the snow as much as now.
She turned the oven off. She had been cooking for almost two and a half hours, and it was all thanks to her crying. The blue colour in her eyes shined dangerously because of the tears rolling down her cheeks. She bit her lower lip as the sweet scent of cooked cranberries reached her nostrils. This would have made me much more happy if Nathan was here to taste it. This is my first important meal, and… my soon-to-be husband isn't here to join me. God, I miss him…
The gaping hole in her stomach returned, and this time it tightened itself really hard. That could be because of the hunger she felt.
The food was poured into different bottles and containers, and then she sat at their small dining table. She was about to take the first bite of a potato, when the phone rang. The hunger was forgotten and the phone was answered: "Nathan?"
"No, it's, uh, Clarissa again. Hi." Why do I have to talk with you all the time. Fuck off.
"Oh, hi Clarissa." Dina drummed her fingers against the table impatiently. "Is something wrong? Is Nathan alright?" She felt a knot of worry.
"Well… that was, what I wanted to talk to you about…" The insecurity in voice of Clarissa's made Dina think about the possibility of her being… sorry about what had happened between Dina and Nathan back then. Clarissa had lied to make Nathan believe, that Dina cheated on him, so Clarissa could be with him instead. But at least everything was okay in the end. They were still together, but now… Dina had a very difficult relationship towards her.
"What do you mean? Please tell me he's alright!"
"Well, the case is… we have no clue about where he is," she mumbled. It had been hard for Dina to catch what she was saying.
"What did you just say to me?" Clarissa was about to repeat it. "I did hear you, thanks."
"Oh… but… do you have any clue? I was worried when he did not show up after your conversation." You probably hoped for us to break up didn't you?
"He ended the conversation very fast, so I didn't have a chance to know anything," Dina said with a quite reproachful attitude. "But thank you for making me worried."
Clarissa sighed on the other line and answered something, but Dina did not hear it. Someone was knocking on the door, and Dina felt numb about who this person could be at this time and on this day. Worry for Nathan filled her and she was in a bad mood. Christmas carols were not welcome right now. "Please wait, Clarissa. Someone's knocking."
She opened the door, ready to shove anyone away. At first she didn't recognize the all-white figure standing before her, not even when his arms embraced her and made her body react immediately with a racing heart and blushing cheeks. She felt his lips on her head, each of her cheeks, her hands and, finally, her lips. Her hands curled up in his hair as he lifted her up from where she stood, closed the door and carried her into the apartment. They were still tangled in the kiss, as passionate as it was. Dina parted for a second to say: "You… are here, but… how?"
He shook his head; some snowflakes fell from his hair which was soaking wet. Actually… all parts of him were soaking wet. "The only possibility I did not think of. I walked, ran, jumped and ice-skated. It was unbelievably, utterly, fucking… cold." The burning spark in his eyes made Dina smile, as she kissed him again.
"I guess we'll have to warm you up, then." She kissed him again. He was still carrying her much to her amusement. For some reason his gaze reached the phone, where Clarissa was still waiting. They parted again and Nathan looked puzzled.
"They wondered where you were, but… depending on our loud voices, they probably would know by now, don't you think?"
Nathan rolled his eyes. "Thank you so much for telling me." He put her down and reached for the phone. "I'm fine, Claire. I'll see you soon. Bye." He smiled as he put away the phone and turned his gaze at Dina again.
Not a second had passed, before she was in his arms again. This time it was bridal style. "I have to practise, Mrs. Sondaloz," he said with a boyish smirk. "Now… where were we?"
"Somewhere between this," she played with a lock of his hair with a spark in her eyes. "And this." She reached for his lips, and he answered the kiss wholeheartedly.
Soon everything else around them was forgotten; the food, the goose… and even Christmas Day.