Sorry that this is so late you guys. I've been working on theater rehearsal and sculpture projects.

College is trying to take over my life! But, I can't just leave you guys hanging!

So, enjoy!

Achieving the Impossible

Parchment 21: The Window

Snow, there was something about it that just made everything seem prettier. The way that the light reflected from the moon, onto the perfectly white ground; It made the atmosphere so much more calming. The view beyond Lixella's window was a blanket of pure white, sparkling with perfection. It was strange, to see something so lovely while her life was just the opposite. It was like this last year as well; The snow was falling, Christmas was coming, and she could not get into the spirit. Thoughts just kept rushing through her mind. How would she get the banshees through the war? Where was her father? Would she ever see him again?

She was losing sleep over these thoughts; As well as the serenading from the ever noisy animals outside of her bedroom window. Lixella certainly did not miss the lack of quiet in this room. She thought back to last year, when she could get some sleep in silence. Last year seemed so different, and yet so similar. Around this time last year, she was spending her time at Malfoy manor, thinking her parents were dead, and dreading the moment when she would finally meet Voldemort.

She turned onto her right side, and began staring at her nightstand. There was a small brown box, opened and littered with tissue paper. Inside sat a very important vial. A vial containing one of her memories. It was supposed to solve everything, because it would tell her about an amulet. The amulet that she had since she was small. It never belonged to her mother or grandmother. Lixella could not recall when she had received it. It had come to her in a rather tattered old box. Ever since then, she had worn it around her neck; As if she did not want to ever lose it. The words from the note attached, haunted her thoughts.

All will return to you, once you can remember this.

That was it, just that one sentence. Lixella had a theory, that the memory in the vial would tell her about the amulet. Then, she could remember everything. She just needed a pensieve. That was all that stood between her and her lost childhood. Lixella closed her eyes, trying to remember any hint to the amulet. It seemed familiar; As if she had worn it before. A room, blurred out, it suffocated her. Perhaps it was then, maybe…maybe it was…

"craaa!" the caw of a bird interrupted her thoughts. Lixella threw her covers off, and marched over to the window. She yanked it open with such force that the window panels crashed against the hinges. Her eyes darted around, trying to find the bird. "craa!" she looked up to find a raven, perched on a nearby branch. She grabbed her wand off of the nightstand, and pointed it to the annoying animal.

"Langlock!" The raven's tongue became stuck to the roof of it's beak. Lixella smirked,glaring out at the twisting tree branches. She wanted to be sure that there weren't any other feathered friends hiding outside her window. Suddenly, something caught her eye. She squinted, leaning out of her window a bit. In the distance, just beyond the outside of Cruxshade manor, was a wolf. It sat at attention; As if it were waiting patiently for someone. It had black fur, which surprised Lixella. The only wolves she had ever seen, were grey, or white. It seemed to be looking in the direction of Lixella's window. Most animals would be startled, and running from the racket that she was making. But, this wolf was simply sitting there, staring at Lixella. It was almost uncomfortable, the way it's reflective eyes were fixated on her. It seemed to want to tell her something.

"craa!" the raven, who had managed to unstick it's tongue, pulled her from her thoughts again. She glared at the bird once more. "Stupefy!" The raven shot back and began wobbling. It turned with a sort of drunken stupor, and fell from the tree branch. Lixella stuck her head out of the window, "I was nice last year! This year it's war!" she yelled.

She shut the window and locked it; As if locking it would keep the noise from entering. Her face hit the soft pillow, and she instantly fell asleep.

The door knocker sounded, echoing throughout the foyer. Aunt Iris came striding out of the drawing room. She was met by Lita, who opened the door. Greetings were exchanged as Narcissa and Draco stepped through the doorway. Aunt Iris paused, feeling as if she had forgotten something.

"Dear Merlin…" she muttered, turning to Lita. "Lita, where is Lixella?"

"Lita thinks that Miss Lixella is upstairs. Perhaps getting ready?"

Aunt Iris rolled her eyes. She knew that Lixella was not getting ready. It was more likely that Lixella was still asleep. The girl's sleep schedule was ridiculous, it was nearly midday.

"Why don't you go upstairs and get her, Draco." said Narcissa, "I need to discuss some things with Iris."

"Yeah, okay" he shrugged.

"Do you know where her room is?" asked aunt Iris.

Draco simply nodded, and made his way up the stairs. Of course he knew where her room was. Last year he had to deliver her a package, and she had thoroughly embarrassed him in front of her relatives. He let out a short laugh, as he ascended the stairs, remembering how much he hated her at that point. If someone had told him then, that he would be in love with her within a year, he would not have believed them.

He, finally, reached her door at the end of the hallway. "Hey, Lixella," he called out while knocking. There was no answer. He tried once more, "Lixella?" nothing, "Are you in there?" Draco slowly opened the door, half expecting a shoe to fly at him. However, all he found was Lixella, curled up in her bed, asleep. He rolled his eyes, walking over to the bed. Of course she was still asleep, Lixella was practically nocturnal. He tried to shake her awake, but she didn't stir. He shook a little harder, still nothing. Draco looked over, to the other side of the bed, and grabbed a pillow. He smirked, then hit her square in the face with it. Lixella merely winced, let out a small groan, and rolled to her other side. "Seriously…" he scoffed, planting his face in his hands. How could she not have woken up from that?

"Well, guess there's only one thing to do, then" he removed his wand, pointing it over Lixella. "Aguamente," a stream of cold water splashed onto her face. Lixella shrieked, and jolted up in shock. Her eyes darted to Draco, who was nearly on the floor with laughter.

"I swear to god I will kill you, Draco Malfoy!" she shrieked, jumping from the bed and toppling him to the ground. She pinned him to the floor, her hair dripping wet. He kept laughing, staring up at her angry expression.

"I'm sorry, dear" he said, smirking, "Did I wake you?" Lixella let out something that sounded close to a growl. "So, you didn't enjoy my wake up call?" he said, still laughing ever louder.

"Oh of course, dearest" she spat, "I just adore being woken up by the rushing waters of the arctic!"

"Glad to know" he laughed, "I'll make a mental note to wake you up like that more often. Since you enjoy it so much!" Lixella growled once more, glaring at him. "You know, I could get used to this," he eyed her up and down. "The whole wet t-shirt, lack of pants, and the fact that your pinning me to the ground. It hardly has the intimidating angle that you seem to be going for." Lixella's glare turned into a twisted smile. She leaned in close; As if she was about to kiss him. Then, once she was less than an inch from his face, she rapidly shook her head. Drops of water flew everywhere, including onto Draco. Lixella stopped, admiring her work.

"Sorry, darling" she said, cocking her head to the side. "I guess the whole sexy, wet t-shirt thing only works for me."

Draco laughed, "was that really necessary?"

Lixella stood up. "Was splashing water on me necessary?" she asked, heading to the closet.

"You asked for that one…" he sat down on her bed, "I tried being nice, but you wouldn't budge."

Lixella stuck her head out of the closet door, "I am just so sorry for wasting that small glimmer of kindness."

"you should be" he said, "I mean, honestly, I am just too good of a person. I try to wake you up, and what do I get in return for my selflessness? A face full of cold water. Not to mention, you have managed to dampen my favorite jacket."

Lixella exited the closet, rolling her eyes at him. She had changed rather quickly. Which was a step up from her normal hour long routine. "Aww" she taunted, "Did I ruin, yet another, of Drakie poo's favorite jackets? I am a terrible person…bad, Lixella" she pretended to scold herself. "Why are you here, anyway?" she asked.

"We're supposed to go Christmas shopping with my mom and your aunt."

"We're still celebrating that holiday?"

Draco brought a hand to his forehead. "Yes, Lixella," he laughed, "It's something that happens every year."

"It just seems too…normal, going Christmas shopping."

"Well, I am sorry that we can't be having constant meetings with Voldemort."

Lixella laughed, "Such a shame. Death eater meetings are my favorite part of the holidays."

"I know," Draco shook his head, "Forget the presents, we should just spend all month watching him murder people. Much more in the spirit of the season!"

Lixella sat on the bed. She laughed and pulled him in for a kiss. "My thoughts exactly, dear! Though, I'm sure the extra time with the dark lord would make your aunt far too happy. She might even become pleasant!" Lixella gasped.

He let out a rather loud snort of laughter. "Damn, I missed you…" he said, leaning in and kissing her.

"I love you, too" she smiled.

The two of them made their way back downstairs. Narcissa was talking to aunt Iris very closely; As if the subject of their conversation wasn't to be heard by anyone else. Lixella shrugged this off. Secrets were not uncommon in her world. In fact, they were growing ever more prominent. The world was just growing with questions. Lixella was getting tired of not knowing answers on a daily basis. It made her feel uncomfortably weak; As if she was unable to control anything in her life.

The party of four made their way to Diagon Alley by car. A small sigh escaped Lixella's lips. It seemed that every time she entered this place, it only grew more dismal than before. Nearly all of the shops were broken into, or abandoned. Barely anyone kept their store windows open to view. The whole place lacked a sense of security. Not to mention that it was almost entirely deserted. It did not hold the usual grand array of Christmas spirit. Making it nearly impossible for Lixella to believe that it was, once again, Christmas time.

She found it hard to buy a present for anyone. Lixella had no idea what Ron, Hermione, and Harry were up to; Nor did she have a way of getting their presents to them, seeing as they were on the run. She wondered who else was on the run. Neville and Luna were, according to Draco, wreaking havoc at Hogwarts. There was also the case of Nym. She wanted to get her best friend something; However, Lixella was a tad hesitant to send anything by mail. Now that Voldemort was in power, mail could easily be searched for connections to undesirables. She wasn't sure if mail was being checked. Expecting the worst, she decided to not buy presents this year. Her mood wasn't very giving anyway.

By the looks of it, neither was the rest of the world. Lixella had never really seen any truly homeless people before. There were moments, in America, when she would pass by them on muggle streets. However, it was uncommon to see so many people huddled in the street. They seemed to be hopeless, as if they had just given up. She locked eyes with one of them. An older woman, with long dark hair was sitting huddled in a doorframe to an abandoned shop. Her heart skipped a beat at first. Without seeing her face close up, the woman very much resembled Lixella's mother. That could, in fact, be someone's mother. That woman had a family, maybe even children. But, why was she out on the streets? Surely she couldn't not have anywhere to go during this time of year. The woman stared at Lixella, with a beaten and defeated expression. Lixella lingered on the sight of her, she almost stopped walking. She wanted to help this woman, there had to be a way to help her.

Something tugged at Lixella's left arm, and began nudging her forward again. Her gaze was ripped away from the woman in the doorframe. She turned to find Draco, shaking his head slightly, with an expression that said, "There's nothing you can do. Just keep walking." Lixella followed his discrete orders, and kept walking. She tried to avert her gaze from the people on the street. It was taking everything to keep her from extending some kind of hand to all of them. She wondered what it was like for someone like Voldemort to walk down this street. Surely he could do it without a shred of remorse. He would not feel a single glimmer of humanity towards these people. Lixella was, once again, reminded of how much she despised Voldemort's new world.

Several new shops had sprung up in this new version of Diagon Alley. Most of them were devoted to the dark arts. This was hardly surprising to Lixella, she had been expecting these. They made their way through several of them. Lixella found a few mildly interesting things. She found herself more bored than anything, which she blamed on her past adventures in America. After all, she had managed to raise the dead; There isn't much to study past that.

Her attention was fixated on a rather lovely looking ring. It was a turquoise eye set in silver. The eye seemed to just gaze up at Lixella, like it possessed some kind of vast secret. There was a wonky sort of circle carved around it, with two spiraling curls coming out of either side. It resembled the banshee character for luck. The label beneath it read, "Cursed". Lixella let out a small laugh at the irony of it all.

"What's funny?" Draco had suddenly appeared next to her.

She pointed to the ring, "That lucky ring is apparently cursed."

"How do you know it's a lucky ring?"

"It just looks like a lucky symbol."

"It's an eye."

"I think it's an evil eye, actually," Lixella leaned closer to the glass. "Which just adds to it's good luck qualities."

"Something called an evil eye is lucky?" He looked at the ring with a puzzled expression. "Well, it's not very lucky if it's previous owner cursed it."

"I wonder how cursed objects become cursed," Lixella said, cocking her head to one side.

"Easy," said Draco, "someone curses them."

"Yeah, but why would you do that?"

"You ask a lot of useless questions, Lixella."

"You don't ask enough."

Draco simply rolled his eyes, and dropped the subject. There was no point in arguing with Lixella about this. She was clearly too wrapped up in her own thoughts; Which were now pondering on why cursed objects were cursed. She did this often, lingering on some puzzling question. Lixella would think about something so much that, eventually, she would over think it. It was extremely unhealthy, in Draco's opinion. Some things should just be left alone.

"Oh, dear!" Aunt Iris suddenly cried, upon noticing the time. "I misjudged the time by quite a bit. We must make our way to Knockturn Alley. Zander has opened a new store in that awful shop space."

"You mean the one that always fails?" asked Lixella.

Aunt Iris nodded, her eyes wide. They began making their way towards the cursed shop.

"It certainly isn't bringing in any money, without business," said Narcissa.

"It's practically losing him money," said Aunt Iris, in a shrill voice. "But, despite my efforts, he insists on keeping it. He says that he just has a strange feeling that it will prove useful one day."

"Surely he doesn't run business on instinct alone?" asked Narcissa, a bit surprised.

"No he's usually very sensible about his business endeavors." Aunt Iris brought a hand to her forehead, "This is just something he picked up one day, and refuses to put it down."

Knockturn alley had not seemed to change much. If anything, it resembled Diagon alley more. It seemed a bit more tolerable to walk down, though. There were quite a bit less people huddled on the streets. Lixella wondered what kind of shop would now stand in the cursed space. The last one, from what she could recall, was filled with materials for scrying, as well as vast texts on fortune-telling. It had been owned by two people, whose names and faces escaped Lixella. She did not know much of them, though. They were just people who paid rent to her uncle Zander. It, certainly, was not her favorite shop to visit as a child. From what she could recall, she much more preferred searching through the ever changing collection of objects at Bourgin and Burke's.

"Aha!" called a voice form the distance. Lixella's thoughts were interrupted as she set her gaze on uncle Zander. He was striding up the street, towards them. A dark blue traveling cloak was fastened around his neck. "I thought I would see you lot eventually," he said in a cheery voice. "Though, I must say that I expected to see you a bit sooner," he tilted his head expectantly towards aunt Iris. She merely waived him off. "Well, I'm eager to show you all the new store," he clapped his hands together. "It's quite a lovely place, now that it's all done up."

Uncle Zander was not lying. The store looked rather welcoming. It's lanterns let off a lovely glow in the evening light, that lit up a good portion of the street. The windows had been wiped clean, and sparkled with dazzling brilliance. The whole place had a rather inviting quality to it; Which was strange for a shop in Knockturn alley. The inside resembled another bookstore. The shelves were stacked high with old looking books. In the corner was a small countertop area. The whole place smelled oddly of coffee and burning firewood.

Lixella looked around the new store. It seemed to have a different feel to it. She walked around, weaving through the shelves. Her attention was suddenly caught by a slender black cat, who had perched itself atop one of the shelves. It peered down at Lixella with large green eyes. "Aren't you gorgeous," she said. The cat strode over to a ladder, and made it's way to the floor. Lixella walked over and began petting it, admiring it's silky black fur.

"You know, most people think that black cats are bad luck," said Narcissa, as she leaned down to pet the cat. "But, I don't think something this pretty could possibly be unlucky."

"My mom used to have a black cat," Lixella said, her eyes staring distantly at the cat's pointed ears. "His name was Helsing."

"Helsing?" Narcissa seemed to question the name.

"Like the character from Dracula," Lixella said nonchalantly. "My mom, despite the efforts of my grandmother, had a serious secret passion for muggle literature. She could recite Edgar Allen Poe's works by heart."

"Ah, yes," Narcissa nodded, "I remember how much she loved those books. There was one in particular that I think she used to carry with her often. Alice in Wonderland, that was it. Your dad said that she used to read it to you at night."

Lixella's eyes found the floor, her gaze still distant. "I don't remember her reading that to me." She sighed, "I don't remember her very much at all." It was true, Lixella's memory of her mother was slipping. Her mom wasn't present in her everyday life, not anymore. With so much going on, Lixella found it hard to concentrate on just picturing her mother's face.

"Well," Narcissa tried to pick up the subject, "She looked exactly like you. Though, she wasn't quite as outspoken. However, there were a few times where her wit could challenge even your father's. That's saying a lot, considering that your dad spent most of his schooling poking fun at my husband. I daresay you are just like him, Lixella…just as sharp. But, you seem much better at containing yourself; I'll give your mother credit for that one." Lixella smiled weakly. "I think that, if she were here, your mother would be very proud of you. I know I would be proud, if I had a daughter who was giving up everything for everyone else."

Lixella let out a small sigh, "Thank you, Narcissa."

"Ah!" exclaimed Narcissa, "Finally using my name, are you? I wondered how long it would take for you to stop calling me Mrs. Malfoy. Honestly child, I did not know how much longer I could repeat myself."

Lixella laughed, "I'm sorry…I guess I'm just not used to using your first name."

"I have known you since you were two years old; Though, you can't remember it. Not to mention that you've spent part of your life terrorizing my son. And yes, I am counting before and after that summer. You are still terrorizing him!" Narcissa shook her head, laughing. "He is genuinely happy, Lixella. It is strange, I have not seen him this happy in quite a while. You know, I think I actually caught him laughing the other day. Who knows what absurd things will happen next?"

Lixella was nearly clutching her rib cage with laughter. She thoroughly enjoyed Narcissa's humor towards her son. However, it held quite some truth to it. It was, as she said, rare to see Draco with any expression other than serious; At least, it was so in public.

"Ready to go, Ladies?" uncle Zander called from across the store.

The two of them stopped petting the black cat, and made their way towards the exit. Draco gave an almost concerned expression when he noticed them leaving the store together. "What were you discussing with my mother?" he asked as Lixella passed him.

"Nothing…" she said, elusively.

"Oh don't lie, Lixella," Narcissa turned to them. "We were discussing you, dear." She nodded to Draco, who gave them both a puzzled expression. "Don't worry, I didn't tell her anything too embarrassing."

Lixella stiffled a laugh, trying to hide her obvious amusement at Narcissa's nonchalant humor. She gazed across the street, smiling broadly. Her smile left, however, when she noticed a strange sight. Across the road sat a rather old bench. There was not much of anything special about it. It seemed to just be a bench. Next to it stood a tall dim lamp post; Now glowing in the evening light. There was something hauntingly familiar about this bench. It was as if Lixella had seen it before. Her head turned suddenly, to a window. It sat across from the bench, above her uncle's store. The window was dark, as if nothing existed beyond it. She could not shake the feeling that she knew what was on the other side of that window. The blurry sight of a dusty window pane flashed through her mind, along with the feeling of suffocating.

"Hey…" a voice pulled her from her thoughts, "You okay?"

She shook her thoughts away, turning her attention to Draco. "Oh, yeah…fine…I just," she lingered on the window once more, "never mind."

Lixella tried to push the image out of her mind. It could not have meant much, that was just an old bench. There were thousands like it. She must have just had a sudden out of body experience or something. Clearing her thoughts, she took Draco's outstretched hand, and made her way away from the strange window.

I hope you guys enjoyed it! I will have the next one up as soon as my school work goes down, which should be fairly soon ^_^

Happy Travels!