A/N: It's Christmas, y'all! Just kidding, it's only Christmas in the story, right now it's the end of March. This is the last chapter I'm posting tonight, I'll try to make sure more follow soon! I hope you guys like it 3
"It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you be of good cheer
It's the most wonderful time of the year
It's the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It's the hap-happiest season of all
There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago
It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistltoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When loved ones are near
It's the most wonderful time of the year"
It's the most wonderful time of the year - Andy Williams
Christmas break arrives soon after the ball. I say goodbye to Niklaus and Vik, and spend the ride back home with Neville (Harry, Ron and Hermione are staying at the castle), whom I have an interesting conversation with, about certain plants and their effect on animals. When we arrive at King's Cross Station, I'm happy to find my mother and father waiting for me next to Draco's parents. As I get off the train, I say goodbye to Neville, hugging him quickly before running over to my parents.
"Mom! Dad!" I exclaim, rushing into my father's already opened arms. When I pull back, his grin is identical to my own, and he ushers me into my mom's arms, making me smile when she presses a kiss to my forehead.
"We missed you so much, darling." Mom says, making me squeeze her before letting go.
"You'll love the Pigmypuffs!" Dad adds, still grinning like a maniac.
"Looks like you've found our parents already." Draco speaks up, walking past me with a grin, retrieving a kiss from his mother and a nod from Lucius.
"I did! It's nice seeing you again, Mr and Mrs. Malfoy." I greet his parents with a polite smile.
"It's good seeing you again as well, dear. We've invited you and your parents to our annual New Year's Ball." Narcissa says with a smile.
"Awesome! I'll see you then, Draco." I say, flashing the white haired boy a grin before leaving after my parents say their goodbyes.
The vacation flies by. I spend a lot of time finding gifts for all of my friends and sending them to them in time. I get Harry a warm dark red sweater, having noticed he doesn't have that many clothes, a book for Hermione that she'd been gushing over for weeks, and a home-baked cake big enough to feed his entire family to Ron, knowing he'd eat it all by himself anyway. I even enchanted it to make sure nothing could ruin it on the way to Hogwarts. For Fred and George, I got a present which exploded, to reveal a book on pranks I was certain they'd like, studying the more practical way of creating certain jokes. I got Ginny a nice pair of earrings I was sure she'd like, along with a gift card from the piercer who did my ears, considering she'd been talking my ears off about asking her Mom to get her ears pierced ever since she saw mine. I sent Bill a Muggle made sculpture of a tiny dragon, having enchanted it so it moved and actually breathed fire, and a Snitch for Viktor, knowing he wanted one to keep in his room, hence why I made it slower. I sent Igor a bottle of Firewhiskey, and Draco a toy car he'd been talking about (strangely enough, he was into that stuff), and the cat sweater Luna had complimented me on, having found a bright yellow version of it in the store I got it from. Lastly, I send Niklaus a few pictures of us I printed and enchanted, along with a record of David Bowie I knew he'd like. I also write him a letter, telling him that I miss him (corny, yes, I know). I knew it were a lot of gifts, but I'd worked at a tavern last Summer for a reason, and I felt like it was a way to express my gratitude for their friendship.
I celebrate Christmas with my entire family, all of us meeting up at my grandmother's house. I spend the time playing with my little cousins, entertaining them by making projections of anything they want, until it's time for dinner. I love Christmas, and I love spending time with my family. I catch up with my dad, roaming our grounds for creatures and having an improvised snowball fight, until I use my magic to defeat him with 10 snowballs hitting him at the same time. My mom is happy to see me as well, often asking me to help her in the kitchen, or the two of us peacefully reading a book by the fireplace when dad is off to work. Soon enough, it's time for the Malfoys' Annual New Year Ball, and I admit I'm quite looking forward to it. I didn't like the people who acted like they were better than someone else, but nonetheless their parties were infamous, and it would give me the chance to catch up with Draco again.
"Ali, are you ready honey?!" My mom shouts from downstairs, making me jump.
"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec!" I yell back, finishing applying my nude lipstick. I check myself in the mirror once more to make sure my hair's alright, before hurrying down the stairs, holding my silver heels in my hand.
"How do I look?" I ask as I reach the bottom of the stairs, where my parents had been waiting for me. My mom was wearing a stunning silver gown, with a small trail and all, looking gorgeous as always. My dad was in a dark green suit, classy, a big grin on his face.
"You look great!" Mom exclaims as Dad wraps an arm around me, squeezing me tight. Mom had bought me a fancy, dark green dress, with silver details on the collar and cuffs. It was a bodycon dress that ended just above my knees, hugging my figure tightly. I quickly put on my silver heels, which are more sandals than pumps, and follow my parents outside, where we Apparate together, my dad holding my mom and I. When we reappear, we're outside Malfoy Manor, in the designated Apparition area. There's already tons of people walking towards the entrance, laughter filling the air. I walk next to my dad as we make our way inside the ballroom, smiling when I see the decorations. The room is lighted up with floating stars that shine brightly, a huge Christmas tree in the corner, the ceiling bewitched like at Hogwarts so we can watch the fireworks later, dark green table cloths and silver everything, the entire room screaming 'rich' and 'elegance'. I was kind of used to this, however, considering it was like this every year when it came to the Malfoys.
"Angela, you made it!" Narcissa exclaims, appearing out of nowhere. My mother kisses her on the cheek, smiling at the sight of her friend.
"And William, you look very charming." She adds when my dad kisses her on the cheek as well.
"It's all thanks to Angie. She forced me in this suit." Dad says jokingly, making her chuckle.
"Oh, and Alistair! You look gorgeous." Narcissa says, then pulls me into a hug.
"Ah, darling, Severus has arrived!" Lucius walks over to us, bringing along a very familiar face.
"Severus, wonderful to see you! And in a suit!" Narcissa exclaims, and I can see a scowl on Snape's face when she places a kiss on his cheek. How amusing! She was right though: he did clean up rather nicely, dressed in a sleek black suit.
"Miss Leroy. I'm surprised to see you here." Snape then says, directing his attention to me, which surprises me. I would've guessed he'd just awkwardly ignore the hell out of me or something. Nice.
"Hello, Professor Snape." I greet politely, smiling up at him.
"Didn't you know? Alistair is the daughter of Angela and William Leroy. She was in Slytherin with us, and he is a famous researcher in the fields of Herbology and Magical Beasts." Narcissa explains quickly, eager to have found more connections and to be able to explain something.
"Pleasure to meet you, Professor Snape." My mother says, politely shaking his hand.
"You're Alistair's Potions professor, then? She's told us a lot about you." My father adds, shaking his as well.
"Did she now?" Snape asks, sounding amused.
"She did. I'm very interested in the way magical creatures react to certain herbs and potions, you see. She told me about the use of bezoars. Speaking of that, thank you for teaching her extra classes. She can really use it." My dad says, making my cheeks turn red.
"Dad, I'm getting better, you know!" I complain, rolling my eyes at him.
"She is. Your daughter knows a lot about magical creatures, so I suppose she has that from you." Snape adds, making me stare at him, cheeks turning redder. I'm not sure if I've ever heard him talk this much, let alone about me!
"Ali, you're here! C'mon, I have your Christmas present!" Draco interrupts us, dragging me away from both our parents and Snape before I can say anything.
The rest of the evening passes by in a blur, really. Draco got me a silver necklace with a small, circular pendant, which was so sweet of him. He's also very happy with the toy car I got him. After that, we spend our time together, eating snacks in the ballroom and drinking champagne, our parents too busy to even notice us. We even dance a couple of times, having fun with just the two of us amongst the other 'adults'. My eyes meet Snape's a few more times throughout the evening, but I don't have the chance to say anything to him anymore. When midnight approaches, I do the countdown with Draco, his parents and my own parents, cheering as fireworks explode above our heads exactly at 12. It was a perfect party.
