Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the magic, characters, or events of the original canon. There is a reason JK Rowling is as rich, famous, and loved as she is. I did create Bella and the events that occur in her individual life.
AN: Some events of this chapter occur in Deathy Hallows because I am taking the actual events of Deathy Hallows that lead to the final battle and spreading them out over two years (what would have been Bella's last year at Hogwarts, and this year—the year after Hogwarts) in order to develop the Draco-Bella relationship, and because it might seem a tad more realistic for it to take 3 teenagers wandering around Great Britain alone two years instead of one year to figure out how to defeat the Dark Lord..and then actually do it.
XXV. Christmas
Christmas Eve day dawned with sun, blue skies, and a few new centimeters of snow blanketing the Malfoy property in the most picturesque of ways. I lay in bed with my eyes wide open, staring out onto the gardens. It was going to be quite the holiday. Tonight was the Christmas Eve ball at the Notts', leaving today full of preparations for that and for tomorrow's celebrations. I wasn't quite ready to be up and out of bed, trying to avoid being in the way of the cleaning and last-minute decorating. Holidays always created stress as far as I could tell, and I always had a knack for getting in the way.
I pretended to sleep when Trinky popped in to leave a breakfast tray for me. She let me be, and I was thankful for the extra time to stay cocooned in my warm comforter. Finally the smell of peppermint tea and cinnamon rolls drew me from my bed and to the tray in front of a blazing fire. Draco knocked and entered just as I was wrapping myself in an afghan. Behind him, levitating several feet off the ground, was his own breakfast tray.
"May I join you?"
"Of course," I answered with a smile.
"Happy Christmas Eve day," he placed a kiss on the top of my head before circling around the couch and sitting next to me.
"Nice pajama pants," I teased, eyeing his black pants covered in candy canes.
"I thought I'd go festive," he returned, shrugging slightly.
"I didn't even know you owned a pair of regular old pajama pants," I responded. "I've only ever seen you in your robes, or very occasionally in sweat pants."
"Yeah, well, this is what?—our fourth Christmas together? I thought I'd let you see the real me. Candy cane pajamas and all."
"Oh, the real you, huh?" I snickered, looking him up and down conspicuously.
"Oh shut it."
I stuffed a piece of frosting-coated cinnamon bun in my mouth and gave a toothless, cheeky, mouth-full-of-food smile.
After finishing chewing and swallowing, I turned to him seriously, "So what's on the agenda for today?"
"Avoid having to clean, avoid having to decorate, avoid having to wrap presents, spend the late afternoon getting ready for the ball tonight. That's about it," he answered, taking a sip of coffee from his mug.
"And how are we going to avoid all that?" I asked.
"Well, the house elves will take care of most of it. Other than that, we just hide away in some random rooms in the house hoping that Mother doesn't find us."
I laughed, "Is this how you spent your Christmases as a child? Running from your mother?"
"Running? No. Hiding? Oh, definitely."
I let out another giggle, shaking my head at him and picking my tea up from the tray.
"How come the last three Christmases we've spent helping clean and decorate and all that rot, then?"
"Well, that was expected of us, being guests for Christmas and all, home from school. My mother didn't get to see us save for Christmas, Easter and summer holidays. She would have been terribly upset had we not shown our faces to help finish preparing the house for the festivities," he explained. "But now, she sees us everyday. She won't miss us if we just happen to disappear most of the day."
"Draco! That's not fair. We really should help out."
"She has an army of house elves and a house full of Death Eaters to boss around," Draco argued.
I gave him a stern look.
"She won't even miss us!" came his reply.
Just then a knock came from the door and Narcissa poked her head in.
"Oh good, you two are up!" she said cheerily, her smile a little frayed. "Finish up breakfast soon so you can help finish decorating the entrance hall and sitting room!"
She closed the door quickly, and I listened to the click-clacking of her heels on the floor leading down the hall.
"Won't even miss us, huh?" I turned back to Draco.
Instead of answering he just took a gulp of coffee, burning his throat in the process. I laughed at the expression on his face and the tears that stung his eyes.
After finishing breakfast, Draco and I got ready for the day. I curled my hair, pinning half of it up with a large, stiff red bow. I put on a nice pair of black pants and a red sweater with a white turtleneck underneath that had small imprinted candy canes on it. Draco, dressed in his usual dress pants and black loafers had on a white collared shirt and a green cable-knit sweater.
"We look like a disgustingly cute Christmas couple," I commented when I saw him. "Like we coordinated."
"But we didn't coordinate," he pointed out hopefully.
"I still sort of want to barf," I deadpanned.
He tried to hide a chuckle, "No time to barf, love. Mother is expecting us."
We walked toward the main stairwell, I turned to him before we descended the stairs, "We're getting along quite well, considering it's a holiday and we tend to fight anyway."
"Don't jinx it," he responded.
"Sorry," I knocked on the wood banister in response, sending him a sympathetic smile.
We spent that afternoon being directed around by Narcissa, lining the banister with garlands and big red bows, stringing fairy lights above the windows in the downstairs parlors, adding the last boxes of ornaments to the three Christmas trees in the entryway and the large one in the sitting room where Father sometimes held his meetings. I was very grateful to have my wand back, using it often to place ornaments and decorations on branches I was much too short to reach on my own. The house elves had done most of the work cleaning and decorating, but Narcissa always liked to put a little extra work in and have us participate in the holiday. We took a hot chocolate break around three in the afternoon before Narcissa ushered me upstairs to the shower. No stylists greeted me outside when I stepped out in my bathrobe, just Narcissa.
"I thought we could spend some mother-daughter time together," she said cheerily, her smile a little less frayed than before. "I mean, future mother-in-law-future-daughter-in-law time..."
I laughed, "Mother-daughter time sounds great."
We sat on the bathroom floor painting our nails and chatting about everything from Christmas traditions to Hogwarts school crushes to plans for the future. I learned that Narcissa's first kiss occurred when she was fifteen by a young boy who lived down the block from her. She and Lucius had fallen for each other at Hogwarts but hadn't begun to date until late in their years there. She had always wanted a daughter too, but Lucius was perfectly content with just Draco as a son. Her favorite Christmas tradition was listening to Christmas music and drinking hot cocoa as everyone picked one gift to open on Christmas Eve before heading to bed. Her least favorite: reading Christmas stories till midnight; that one had been banished the moment she became a Malfoy. She asked me about Christmas at the orphanage as she brushed out my long hair and used her wand to fold it into a simple, but elegant updo. I told her about what I had wanted to be when I grew up before I'd found out I was a witch as I watched her apply her make up with the efficient hand of someone who'd been doing it for years. By the time we were all ready to get into our dresses, I was so content with the time we'd spent learning about each other, I'd have liked nothing better than to hop back in the shower and get ready for bed. She embraced me, kissing each of my cheeks before leaving my room to let me get dressed.
I pulled my dress from the garment bag. The top was a midnight blue, form fitting, three-quarter length sleeve that attached to a dark blue skirt with a silvery flowery, lace-like pattern that went down just past my knee. The top and bottom were pulled together with a thick satin sash that wrapped around the waist line. After putting on the dress I pulled on some matching heels with jeweled flowers on the clasp. Matching earrings and a short choker necklace finished off the look. Just in time, Draco came to fetch me and we headed out to the ball.
All in all, it was wonderful way to spend the evening. The Notts had decorated their house to the nines, much like the Malfoys had. There was plenty of food and music like every ball, but most unlike any other ball I'd been to that year, there was also a plethora of happy chatter and light laughter. Draco and I didn't argue all night, we shared several dances with other people and had a lovely evening.
We returned home late on Christmas Eve, but before midnight for once. Draco and I ascended the stairs silently, hand-in-hand. I stopped to enter my room, but Draco held my hand fast, stopping me before I was able to enter.
"Wait. I want to give you your Christmas gift."
"But it's not Christmas morning yet!" I replied.
"We always get to choose one gift to open on Christmas Eve," he responded.
"Yes, I remember," I answered. "But doesn't that mean I get to choose which one?"
"I want you to open one in particular tonight," he said slyly.
"What if I don't want to open that particular one tonight?" I asked teasingly.
"Oh, humor me, Bells," he leaned in to brush a kiss across my cheek.
I sighed, "Alright."
He led me on to the Blue Room. We stopped right in front of the door and Draco took both my hands in his.
"So I turned this into a bit of a pet project," he admitted to me.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Just wait and see, and then I'll explain" he dropped one of my hands and opened the door.
I stepped inside and he illuminated the lamps with the wave of his wand. As the lights bounced off the objects in the room, allowing my eyes to see, I gasped. The room definitely could no longer be called the Blue Room. The curtains had been changed to a dark purple color with a beautiful flower embroidery. The blue rug had been replaced with a beautifully crafted Persian rug. And on top of the rug was a brand new baby grand piano, just like I'd always wanted.
"Oh, Draco!" I said, my hands still covering my mouth.
"I got permission from my mother to change the room a bit, add the piano, get the rug. The room is yours now. You can change whatever you want, come play piano whenever you want, fill it with music or books or...knitting projects," he explained.
"Knitting projects?" I laughed, tears stinging my eyes.
"I don't know!" he exclaimed. "I just know you like to play," he gestured toward the massive instrument, "And it makes you happy. And I want you to be happy."
"Thank you!" I flung my arms around his neck, burying my face into his shoulder. "Thank you so much Draco. This is the best gift you could have ever given me!"
I released him and immediately sat down at the piano, adjusting the bench to fit my shorter stature.
"What would you like me to play?" I asked him.
"Something Christmasy," came his reply.
"Well, obviously," I rolled my eyes at him.
"Anything you like," he shoved his hands in his pockets and strode towards me.
I looked beside the piano to see a small black box filled with piano books. I sent Draco a suspicious look.
"I did some research," he shrugged with a smirk on his lips.
I looked down and pulled out a traditional Christmas book. Flipping to one of my favorite Christmas carols, I began to play. After a while, Draco sat next to me on the bench, and after I began to sing he joined in. We continued on for an hour or so, enjoying the music, the warmth of the season, but most of all, each other.
We exited the former Blue Room a while after midnight, now Christmas Day. Draco began walking me back to my room when we heard the sound of the front door being slammed and footsteps crossing the entrance hall. Draco's right hand immediately jumped to his left arm. He gave me a significant look, one that was meant to be interpreted as "go to your room and stay there." Of course, I followed him to the stairwell instead. His long strides took him there quickly and I was forced to jog lightly and gracelessly in my heels. He descended the stairs quickly and I stood with my hands on the railing of the banister on the balcony over the entrance hall. My father looked up to see me standing there, a worried look surely plastered on my face.
"Arabella, please go to your room," he said coldly. He was obviously furious.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing of your concern," he turned to head to the meeting.
I opened my mouth to argue; if he wanted to give me the Dark Mark, if he wanted me to take on responsibility, he should start trusting me with information and I should take part in these meetings. I changed my mind, however, a heavy weight settling deep in my stomach as I got the distinct feeling that I did not want to know what had happened. I turned on my heel and went straight to my room.
I was up and at 'em before Draco the next morning. I hadn't slept well the night before, I had not heard Draco pass by my room last night to go to bed, and I had a weird feeling about the occurrences that had taken place on Christmas Eve. I wrapped myself in my dressing robe and scurried down the stairs. Presents had appeared under and around the tree in the sitting room overnight. Even though Narcissa knew that we no longer believed in Santa Clause, she liked to have the presents appear "magically" while we were sleeping. As I approached the breakfast room, I heard voices. I entered the breakfast room, where Narcissa and Lucius were sipping coffee and reading The Daily Prophet, they looked up to see me enter, each wishing me a Merry Christmas. I sat with a cup of tea on the window seat waiting for Draco to appear and doing one of the puzzles Narcissa cut out of the paper for me. I really wanted to ask about last night, but I was sure I would be persona non grata if I did so.
"Where's Father?" I finally asked, curiosity getting the better of me.
"The Dark Lord is attending to some business today," came Lucius' cryptic reply.
"On Christmas?" I asked.
"Yes," Lucius said coldly.
"Business not revolving around the celebration of the birth of a savior and spending time with his one and only daughter?" I said sarcastically, but with a hint of honesty in my melancholy at family not being his first priority on this holiday.
Narcissa gave me a soft, sad smile. She knew something, obviously, and she knew that something would upset me as well.
"There are more important things on his mind right now," Lucius glared at me.
I shrugged it off, knowing full well that Lucius Malfoy didn't have a humorous bone in his body. Sarcasm was lost on him unless it revolved around pain and suffering. Luckily Draco walked in at that moment, again in his candy cane pajamas, much to my delight and his father's chagrin. We sat down to a lovely, although overly filling, breakfast before opening the gifts under the tree.
Lucius and Narcissa gave each other several extravagant gifts as well as purchasing things for Draco and myself. Father had left a gift for me, which turned out to be a locking jewelry box with a mirror and all sorts of neat compartments. I was pretty sure, however, that Narcissa had picked it out for him to give me so Father didn't have to do any of the work. After all the presents had been opened, Lucius retired to his study with one of his new books, Narcissa went to check on the status of lunch in the kitchens as some of the house elves began to clean up the wrapping paper strewn about the floor. I turned to Draco with a small, square box in my hands.
"Merry Christmas," I said to him handing him the box.
He took the package with a smile and a thank you. As he began slowly unwrapping the gift, my stomach did flips. I wasn't sure if he was going to like it. And the more I thought about it the more sure I became that he was not going to like it, and I regretted my decision instantly. I should have just gotten him a Quidditch book or something. He lifted the lid off a little box to reveal two gold watches, one larger than the other. He lifted the larger one from the tissue paper, looking at it carefully. Inside the glass were three hands backed in onyx stone. One golden hand told you the hour, the other the minutes, and the last had the initials AR written in golden calligraphy on it. Around the face of the clock were written various places: "home" where 12 should be, "traveling" at 1, "Hogwarts" at 3, "danger" at 9, and several others. The other, smaller watch was identical, save for the initials which were DM instead of AR.
"I got the idea from a clock I saw in a Wizarding family's home," I admitted, referring to Mrs. Weasley's clock, which told her the location of everyone in her family. "Your watch will tell you where I am, mine where you are. Try opening the back of it," I suggested.
He turned his watch over, opening the back of the watch to reveal a small hallow opening.
"If you place a message in there, it will appear in the back of mine, and vice versa," I explained.
"Like a vanishing cabinet," he murmured.
"Well, yes," I said, looking down at my fingernails, "that's where I got the idea."
"So I can send you messages instantly, without an owl..."
"If it works, yes," I answered, feeling very nervous.
"And vice versa," he said.
I nodded, not really knowing if he hated the gift or loved it.
"Bells, this is brilliant!" he exclaimed. "Thank you so much!"
He pulled me into a deep hug, pressing a few small kisses on my neck. When he let me go, he put his watch on right away, handing me mine and looking at me expectantly.
"Well," he nodded at my wrist, "put it on!"
I laughed and obliged. After I finished fastening it to my wrist, I looked up. Draco captured my lips before I could protest. And to my amazement, I found my heart didn't want to protest, and I let myself become lost in the moment. Lost in feeling of love that Draco was able to convey in his kisses and the soothing touch of his hand brushing the hair from my face and tucking it behind my ear.
"Happy Christmas, love," he finally breathed when he pulled away.
"Happy Christmas, Draco."
We spent the afternoon putting our prizes away and reading in front of the fire with hot chocolate (for Draco), tea (for me), and frosted, decorated gingerbread men. The best part about magical gingerbread men is their vain attempts to convince you not to eat them. Draco would lose his patience right away and bite off the head so he couldn't hear them argue, but I would always eat the head just before finishing off the cookie. I enjoyed consuming each of the four limbs first and conversing with the poor cookies, who believed the lists of reasons not to eat them would distract me from their deliciousness. It was entertaining to be sure, but completely futile.
"Why do you torment them?" Draco asked after I chatted with a cookie in between biting off his arms and legs.
"I like to hear what they have to say!" I answered.
"They're cookies!" he exclaimed, an unmistakable smile spreading across his face.
"Oh I know, but we didn't have talking gingerbread men growing up, so I have so much catching up to do!"
He just laughed at my response.
After I chased the last cookie with some cold milk, I turned in my seat, setting my book down on the seat cushion next to me.
"Draco?" I asked.
He looked up from his book, reluctantly.
"What happened last night?" I asked timidly.
He sighed, his happy expression fading fast.
"You don't want to know," was his only reply.
"Yes I do," I argued.
"I really shouldn't tell you," he pinched the bridge of his nose in slight frustration.
"You could write it down..." I suggested sneakily, eyeing his watch.
He gave me a kind smile, like he was indulging a small child.
"Let's just say, your saintly friend has a surprising ability to escape sticky situations, with the help of one very intelligent young buck-toothed, frizzy-haired know-it-all."
"Don't call her that!" I scolded, but Draco just ignored me. "Where were they?"
He didn't answer me for a moment.
"Godric's Hollow," Draco whispered in my ear.
I had to cover my mouth to refrain from exclaiming loudly. It was a brilliant place to go to look for clues, but also completely predictable from my father's perspective.
"So, he was foiled again," I murmured, referring to my father.
Draco just nodded.
"What about Ron?" I asked.
"What about him?" Draco sounded confused.
"Never mind," I shook my head, wondering why Ron hadn't been with the other two, and hoping nothing had gone wrong.
"Is..is everyone okay?" I asked after another moment.
"If you are asking if Potter and Granger are alive, I would assume so based on the Dark Lord's mood last night."
I released a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. Draco placed his hand on my back and began rubbing it in small circles, returning to his book with his other free hand. After a moment, I leaned into him, and he wrapped his arm around me, running his fingers up and down my arm.
"Hey, Draco?" I said, my head resting on his shoulder.
"Mm hm?" he hummed.
"This has been our best Christmas yet," I stated.
"I agree."
"Thank you," I whispered.
He didn't respond. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breathes, trying to release the tension that had built in my body from the conversation about Harry and Hermione.
"I love you, Arabella," Draco responded after a moment longer.
I lifted my head slightly and planted a quick kiss on his cheek in response. I then returned my head to its previous position and stared into the fire, trying to decide exactly how I felt about Draco.
It was in that position that I fell asleep until Narcissa came to remind us to get changed into something acceptable for Christmas Day dinner.
AN: I'm sorry I couldn't throw a "humerus" bone (the upper arm bone) joke in there with the Lucius' lack of humor bit. I tried to think of one, but it was just way too geeky and out of place...
ANYWAY...here is your Christmas Chapter...yay! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!
Also...
WHEN (not if) you REVIEW...please please please tell me if you would rather (a) read chapters that are ahead in the real-life calendar (so the next chapter may occur in February or April, even though we are still in December/January in real life) or (b) wait for me to update until we are in the same time of year as that chapter occurs.
THANK YOU!
And as Taylor Swift says, lovelovelove!