"Ow! Stop that!" She laughed as a third decorative pillow hit her square in the face, her eyes glaring – yet failing- at the elder twin. Elladan was kneeling on the wooden floor next to a giant box- completely covered with dust- his head disappearing inside as his hands continued to full out all different kinds of Christmas decorations.
"Ada should do this with magic." She could hear him complaining as he threw yet another decorative pillow- this one sporting a very very green Christmas tree on it- in her direction, missing her by a quarter of an inch.
"Stop throwing stuff at me." She rounded the large couch, picking up the pillow from the floor and placing it neatly as it should be on one of the large cushioned seats.
"I dunno, I think it's kinda fun to do this." Came Elrohir's voice from the other side of the gigantic living room, his hands pulling put a large golden candlestick from yet another massive box. "I don't even remember we had this!"
"How many boxes do you have?" It had been at least three hours that the three of them had been going from box to box, and they did not appear to even be close to finishing! All around them, the living room resembled more of a battlefield than a beautifully decorated one. Christmas decorations lay scattered everywhere around them, her feet tangling at least four or five time with a garland that Elrohir had not taken the time to properly hang yet.
"Too many." Elladan's voice did not sound too amused about the prospect of spending his entire morning sorting through old boxes of Christmas decorations, throwing yet another pillow that hit her in the back of the head.
"Dan! I said stop!" She called out, no longer finding his behavior funny yet not managing to sound truly angered.
"Oh! Look!" The younger twin suddenly exclaimed with a loud laugh, all pairs of eyes flying in his direction, only to find him pulling what seemed to be the ugliest Christmas sweater she had ever seen out of the open box. A layer of dust fell from the old worn wool, the color such a bright red that it almost looked orange. A large white snowman was knitted right in the middle of it, looking more as if someone had accidentally dropped ball of cotton on the sweater. "Dan, you should wear this for dinner tonight!"
"You wear it!" the older twin narrowed his eyes at his identical copy, even though she could see him trying to stifle a laughter at just how ugly the sweater was.
"How are you three doing he-" The twins' father suddenly appeared through the large opening that led to the kitchen, stopping mid sentence once his stormy grey eyes landed on the mess of a living room. Almost immediately, his arms crossed over his chest, throwing them a look that almost made her want to apologize, one eyebrow raised high. "I asked you to help, not to make this more difficult."
"Ada, look!" Elrohir let out a laugh as he lifted the horrid seater for his father to see, clearly not at all bothered by the latter's reproach. "Dan is going to wear this tonight for dinner."
"Will not!" Elladan hissed but was thoroughly ignored by his brother and father, the latter's lips suddenly curving up in a teasing smile, looking at his elder son.
"Oh, Elladan, my son, you'll look so very handsome!"
"Ada!" the elder twin looked dramatically betrayed, his eyes sparkling at the exaggeration of his expression, making her laugh so much she could barely breathe.
"Can we help with something else, Ada?" Elrohir complained, looking absolutely bored of pulling things out of boxes, throwing the sweater carelessly back inside.
"You have done anything but help." Came the wall wizard's deep voice, his eyes once again scanning the room as if he wanted to run away from scene.
A sudden pop! Echoed from the fireplace at that precise moment, making all heads turn in that direction. A figure had suddenly appeared in the midst of pale green flames, brushing away stray ashes.
"I was about time you showed up." Elladan's voice called from where he was sitting on the floor, silver eyes smiling up at his younger sister.
"Arwen." Mr. Peredhel greeted with a wide smile, arms opening wide to embrace his daughter, who walked straight in his direction. Her long dark hair fell down her back in perfect waves, contrasting stunningly with her pale skin and grey-blue eyes.
"Hi, Ro, Dan, Sigrid." The Ravenclaw girl waved at them, off them replying a cheerful "hi" in return.
"Where is-" The twins' fathers eyes narrowed in the direction of the fireplace, only to slightly jump back as another pop! Interrupted him, a smile breaking out on his face. "Ah, there she is. Hello, Elise, welcome in."
Another girl had suddenly materialized on the ample fireplace, her hands brushing away ashes from her skirt and sleeves. Large brown eyes lifted up to look at all of them, waving warningly in greeting gesture. She had seen the girl a couple of times around Hogwarts, always around Arwen, even though she had never really spoken to her. She had sandy blonde hair that she had pulled up in a ponytail, and her angled face was covered with an assortment of pale freckles that looked oddly endearing.
"Hi!" She said almost timidly, stepping out of the fireplace and stopping to stand next to Arwen, the latter's grey-blue eyes looking around the living room with a expression of sudden fright.
"What happened here!" She exclaimed, eyes following the collection of pillows that Elladan had managed to through on the floor, the garlands, candlesticks, and hundreds of bright red and gold ribbons scattered through the floor.
"Your brothers, happened." Mr. Peredhel pointed out, throwing both of his son's a look that meant that if they did not clean soon they would be in trouble.
"And Sigrid!" Elrohir was quick to include her, a finger pointing her direction, making narrow her eyes in his direction. She had been only one cleaning after the twins!
"Elladan, Elrohir, step away from those boxes." Mr. Peredhel seemed to change his mind about ordering them to clean, one hand beckoning them to come closer, as if fearful that his living room would finally collapsed if he allowed the twins to keep pulling things out of boxes.
"Arwen, Elise, why don't you two help with the decorating." He instructed, taking some seconds before decided on what new task to assign to them. "The three of you, de-gnome the yard."
"What! No!" Elladan complained immediately, falling instantly silent the look his father threw him, which left no space for an argument.
Knowing better than to argue with the tall powerful wizard, the three of them scurried towards the large front doors, bundling up in scarves and coats as they went. She nearly fell over in her rush to put on her boots, forgetting that one of them was not laced.
Outside, the sunlight bounced off the white snow so brightly that she had to squint in order to see, the cold hitting her face and making her cheeks turn bright pink in return. For the first time since they had arrived, the sky was a clear pale blue, the heavy grey clouds that had covered it now completely gone. The frozen lake stretched in a white canvas to their right, the surface so smooth that it looked almost tempting, as if calling for them to step onto it. And still she could not help but feel a little disappointed at not finding a tiny figure zooming on a broomstick across it. she had half-expected it.
"I see no gnomes." she pointed out as she made her way towards the twins, who were standing just a couple of steps ahead of her. Her feet sunk a little past her ankle in the powdery snow, which flew in all direction every time they moved.
"They are in there." Elrohir pointing his index finger to the thick forest that lay in front of them, the one that lined the entire lake and separated their house from the Lasgalen's. "They are especially difficult to see in the snow."
"Got one!" Elladn's voice suddenly exclaimed, and only then did she realize that the elder twin had already made his way across a bunch of trees, kneeling on the soft snow. His hands suddenly pulled out a squirming creature by the ears, swinging it around in circles a couple of times before letting it go, watching it spin widely in the air before landing somewhere far from them.
"Fun." Elrohir's voice dripped sarcasms, letting her know that he though the task was anything but fun. Still he made his way into the small forest, rounding thick tree trunks in the search for gnomes.
Letting out a sigh and bracing herself for the task at hand, Sigrid stuck her freezing hands into the warm pockets of her black coat, making her way through the tall trees. Some of them were so tall that she almost got dizzy of only imagining what it would be like to climb them. The bare branches stretched above her head like a beautiful frozen nest, thousands of little icicles hanging from them, reflecting the light in all sorts of colors.
She could hear the twins chasing after gnomes around her, Elrohir cursing under his breath as on scurried away just past his left leg. Her eyes scanned the snow-covered ground around, feeling as if she was walking in circles, trying to catch sight on any movement. Something dashed past her left ankle, making her turn so fast in surprise that she managed to lose her footing on the powdery snow, falling down on her bottom. Elladan's laughter roared some distance behind her, but she barely had time to throw him a deadly glare before hurrying back to her feet, watching the creature about to disappear from her view.
"It's getting away!" She muttered, trying to catch up with the creature that was a little too fast and agile for her.
"Go, Sig!" She heard Elrohir hollering from some distance, Elladan cheering mocking next to him. "You can do it!"
But she was not paying attention to them. No. Her full attention was focused on the creature that kept dashing left and right, zig zagging through the forest as it knew it by heart. She nearly fell backwards as she fit her cheek with one of the lowest branches, not really having noticed it, her blood boiling in sudden anger as the creature stopped for a second to let out a squeaky mocking laughter at her.
"Oh, you, little…" She didn't finish the sentence, throwing her arms at the snow in an attempt to catch the mocking cursed little gnome, but the creature was once again too fast for her, quickly dashing away and rounding trunk to her right.
Oh no, she was not going to let it win! She was not going to let it mock her! Rushing back to her feet as fast as she possibly could, she dashed behind the fast creature, somehow managing not to run into any tree trunks in her way, even though she was very close a couple of times. She had long ago left the twins far behind her, but she did not really care about that, she would find her way back through the small forest once she had made sure this little gnome was no longer around! It flew left, then right, and then she made her move, having roughly calculated the distance. She lunged herself onto the snow face down, arms stretched in front of her, ready to grab the little gnome, snow falling into her eyes and mouth.
"No!" She muttered in frustration as her hands caught nothing but freezing snow, blood boiling once more as she heard that mocking squeaky laugh of the gnome now far away to her left. That nasty little fast creature!
A sudden quiet chuckle made her freeze momentarily, her eyes going wide. For the first time she noticed that the thick foliage around her had suddenly cleared, and she was lying face down on the snow right in front a huge front porch. She cursed mentally, heart skipping a beat as eyes landed on the familiar lone figure sitting comfortably on one of the porch's couches. Icy blue eyes were looking at her silently, sparkling with mocking amusement as he studied her carefully. His long silvery hair fell over his shoulders, pooling over his dark grey scarf and black sweater that looked a little too expensive. A thick woolen blanket was draped over his legs, which were stretched on the couch, a book lying momentarily forgotten on his lap. For as second she didn't' know whether she felt more embarrassed at her current predicament, or angered at him and his behavior from the day before.
"It ran away." That deep musical voice floated effortlessly through the air, his chin almost lazily pointing in the direction in which the gnome had scurried off, icy eyes still partially mocking her, seeming a little too amused at her expense.
She rose awkwardly to her feet, taking her time in brushing away the snow from her clothes, trying to think on anything to say to him that did not involve yelling. A long second of silence stretched heavily through the air, and she tried not to wince as she felt those piercing blue eyes still fixed on her, always silent, unreadable.
"You didn't do a very good job." His velvet voice called softly from where he was sitting, and she could hear that familiar teasing note in it that always made her lose her temper.
"Why do you not try and catch it?" She snapped, brushing the snow from now entirely messed ponytail, golden curls already falling from it.
He chuckled again, that beautifully enchanting sound that made her want to suddenly hit him. And then, without a word he lifted his left arm as a silent explanation, her anger momentarily disappearing at the sight of white linen bandages still peeking through underneath the dark sleeve of his sweater.
Another long silence stretched between the two, and she tried to decide whether or not to simply leave. And yet she remained standing there, feeling those piercing eyes still fixed on her. She felt as if she should be yelling in ager at him, demanding him an explanation for his behavior both the day before and during the Yule Ball, and at the same time she could not stop the way in which his mere regal presence made her feel momentarily frozen, odd butterflies dancing uncomfortably in her stomach. She could never predict his reactions, could never predict whether he would be cold or open to talk. No, that was no excuse for his behavior. Making up her mind, she lifted her head to face him, however, he interrupted her the second she opened her mouth to speak.
"I'm sorry." His voice was honest, icy blue eyes still piecing through hers, crystal irises impossible to see through yet oddly not cold. It was the same look she had only gotten to see a few times, on those occasions in which he had been more friendly, that softer side of him that nobody got to see.
She nodded her head, accepting his apology yet not entirely, looking straight into those penetrating eyes that not left hers. "For your horrid behavior yesterday, or for your horrid behavior at the Yule Ball?"
"Yesterday." A flash of anger flew through his eyes for a split second at the mention of the Ball, disappearing only seconds later, letting her know that he was not going to apologize for that. And for the moment she decided to drop it, even though her anger had not entirely dissipated.
"I….I wasn't feeling well." His voice lowered a little as he explained, even though his face remained that perfectly serene expression that let nothing through, her anger only rising at the excuse he was giving her. Oh no, she was tired of this, tired of him using his injury/sickness as an excuse to be angry and lash out at her for merely knowing about it.
"You promised that if you told me what it was you would not-" She stopped herself mid-sentence, shoving her hands inside her pockets. Of course. Another though had suddenly crossed her mind, her eyes still glaring at him but less strongly now. It was because she had been in his house. It was so obvious that she nearly kicked herself for not having though about it before. He had not been well, meaning that his humor was beyond foul and had found her inside his house. It was so like him, all these barriers, all this walls. He never even spoke about himself, not letting any kind of conversation drift beyond small-talk.
"I am not angry that you know." He said, his voice as low as it had been before, honest ice blue eyes lifting up to meet hers once more.
"It's not my fault you were not feeling well." She pointed out firmly, taking a few steps in the direction of the porch, watching him through the elegant railing. "Don't lash out at me for that."
"I know." Was all he said, but it was enough for her to drop the subject momentarily, letting the silence settle heavily once more. Perhaps she should really leave, she still needed to finish chasing after gnomes, and it did not look as though he would say anything else.
"Would you like to come in?" The unexpected question hit her by surprise just as she had turned around to leave, her brow eyes landing on his perfectly calmed face, trying to read anything through it but once again failing.
She opened her mouth but closed it again, trying to make her mind. She didn't want to be kicked out again from that enormous elegant manor, nor did she wanted to run into his intimidating father again by any chance, for him to find her once again inside his house.
"I…" She stammered, her thumb pointing towards the forest through which she had come. "I have to….to finish…"
"We both know you will not catch one." He mocked her, that smile, so small yet somehow real curving on his lips, the one that was not perfectly practiced.
She took in a long breath, eyes drifting once to the forest stretching at her back. She guessed the twins would not notice her absence for a little while…assuming she was still chasing after gnomes.
"Fine." She agreed, hands playing nervously with the hem of her coat as she made her way up the couple of wide steps leading to the porch. In an elegant move, he had risen from the couch, forgetting the blanket and book in a heap, walking to meet her by the large main doors.
She had already been inside the house, only the day before, and yet it felt as though she was entering for the first time, her eyes feigning a little too much interest in the grand entrance hall in an attempt not to look at him. Meeting him at the library every other week to share notes was one thing, but hanging out with him in his own house was definitely another. It as if they were…..actually friends.
"This is the living room." His musical voice carried over the impossibly tall walls as she followed him inside the spacious living room she had seen the day before. And it once again impressed her, so many windows filtering the light making it feel almost outdoor. Her footsteps were muffled by the rich carpet underneath her feet, her eyes landing on a fine leather couch and a couple of large cushioned seats by the largest fireplace she had ever seen. And yet, it was only then that she noticed that the absence of any fire dancing in it, the room seeming to be heated by some other kind of magic or spells. A massive Christmas tree lay to one corner of the room, perfectly decorated with an assortment of gold and silver ribbons, and she could see a bunch of presents resting at its base. There were six or seven frames with moving pictures on a countertop to one end of the room, but she was too far away to really look at them, following Lasgalen as he made his way through the room.
"This way is the kitchen." He showed her to another side pointed arch opening on the wall, leading an airy large kitchen, but he did not go inside, as if finding no interest in it.
"The dining room." He continued, moving through the giant house into a room with a table that could seat about twenty people. The expensive wood had been perfectly polished, reflecting the light in bright shades, line with perfectly placed high-backed chairs. Even imagining sitting down here to eat was already intimidating her, feeling too formal.
"Do you actually eat here?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop her, followed by a light quiet laugh from his part.
"We eat in the kitchen." He clarified, and that somehow made her feel better, more normal.
A sudden meow made her nearly jump in surprise, her eyes landing on a white and grey cat that had made his way into the room, scratching its paws against the rug.
"Your cat?" She guessed, turning around to look at him, remembering that he had previously mentioned he owned a cat.
"Yes." He nodded his head, eyes following the feline as if rushed past their legs and in the direction of the kitchen, clearly not interested in socialized.
"Where's your brother?" she asked as she followed him back to the living room, for the first noticing the silence that bathed the giant house.
"With my father." He explained lowering himself elegantly on one of the leather couches. "Still buying last minute Christmas presents. Should be back shortly."
She chose a seat not too close from his and yet not too far, the cushions surprisingly soft, nearly swallowing her. "You didn't want to go?"
"Wasn't allowed to go." She shrugged, even though she did not miss the way in which his eyes momentarily looked down at his bandaged arm, making her almost felt guilty for asking.
"How's…." She used her finger to point at his left arm, not really finishing the sentence but he managed to understand her just fine.
"Painful." She had not expected him to tell her the truth, and somehow wished that he had not, even though he shrugged it off as if it was a casual thing. She didn't ask more details about it, figuring that perhaps he would tell her if he wanted to, but she would not push it. She wanted to aske so many things, what exacly had happened for such a curse to land of him, who had casted such dark magic in the presence of four year old, but she did not dare do it.
"You're still coming tonight for dinner, aren't you?" She didn't know why but suddenly the prospect of him staying home that night and not joining in the dinner seemed to make the grand dinner a little less exciting.
"Unfortunately." His voice sounded bitter about, suddenly making her again think of the twins and how they too seemed to believe that inviting the Lasgalens was the make to ruing their Christmas Dinner. What was wrong with them! Why did they hate each other so much!
"Hey!" She chastised him, narrowing her eyes at him. "We spent nearly all morning decorating the living room and then de-gnoming the garden for tonight, so at least fake to be excited about it."
"You didn't do any de-gnoming." He pointed out instantly, that faint sparkle of mockery crossing through those ice colored eyes.
"I would have, had you not interrupted me."
"Really?" Those stunning icy eyes narrowed at her, and she knew that both of them knew that she would never have been able to catch that gnome, no matter how much she pretended.
"Look who's talking." She muttered, throwing him a fierce glance, not liking being told off no matter how much she knew she would never have caught that gnome. To her surprise, he arched a fair eyebrow high on his forehead, seeming to be slightly taken aback.
"I can catch a garden gnome." He asserted, leaning back against the leather couch comfortably, his words making her let out a laugh.
"No you can't." She shook her head, finding his words and determination incredibly amusing.
"I can." He repeated. Clearly she was not the only one who did not like being told what she could and could not do. His ice blue eyes glance down at his bandaged left arm before fixing on hers, still so unreadable, impenetrable, yet not once cold, unexpectedly welcoming. "Not right now, but I can catch a gnome."
"That is something I would like to see. When your arm is not hurting." She chuckled, not able to picture his elegant tall figure running around one of those nasty creatures.
He opened his mouth to reply, but he sudden sound of footsteps coming through the main door made his head fly in that direction, his expression still perfectly calmed, unreadable. They had five second warning before a small figure was already dashing inside the living room, throwing away his snow-covered coat and scarf on the empty couch, bright blue eyes sparking up at his brother.
"Hi, Thran!" Legolas smiled warmly, eyes landing in her direction before waving at her. "Hey, Sigrid!"
"Hi." She waved in return, her stomach already turning in nerves and dread as she could hear the light elegant footsteps approaching the living room. Oh, Merlin, why had she even agreed to come in.
She bit her lip, lowering her eyes as the tall regal figure of Oropher Lasgalen stepped into the room, his long pale green robes trailing behind him in graceful waves. There it was again, that powerful commanding aura that always surrounded him, almost majestic, a figure nobody would dare to cross or contradict. It was not difficult to imagine him once being Minister of Magic. Nobody would ever dare to question his authority.
His dark blue eyes swept over the figures sitting in the room, an she could see them widening slightly in utter surprise as they landed on her, sitting there on one of the cushioned seats by the empty fireplace. His eyes slowly moved again to his elder son, and she could see him putting the pieces together. This was it. She was about to be politely kicked out again. And truth be told, she wanted to leave, suddenly feeling uncomfortable, watched.
"Sigrid, was it?" His deep voice carried through the room, taking of his outer black cloak in the process, voice unexpectedly warm, not the hostile tone she had expected, even though his eyes still studied her in puzzlement, seeming to watch her every move, every feature.
"Yes, um, hi." She stammered, offering a smile in return, trying to mask her sudden nerves.
"Do you want to stay for lunch? We're making sandwiches!" Legolas' joyful voice suddenly chirped, bright eyes looking in her direction, making her want to sink further into the cushions and disappear. Lunch! She should really return to the twin's house before they came looking for her.
"I really should get going." She rose to her feet, eager to leave the house, when Thranduil's father suddenly spoke again, his words catching her completely out of guard.
"Please, join us. You're welcome to stay." He added, his voice once again unexpectedly warm, smiling kindly at her, somehow not matching the tall intimidating figure he was, making her confused.
"I'm sorry." She said truthfully, sticking her hands in her pockets. "I have to be back for lunch."
"Of course." Mr. Lasgalen nodded his head in understanding not pushing it further. "I'll walk you outside."
She felt overly self-conscious with the tall wizard following her steps as she crossed the room, lowering her heard nervously, focusing on the way in which her feet shuffled against the rich carpet.
"We got a gift for you." She could hear Legolas' excited voice narrating his brother, almost picturing the grin on his face. "But I'm not telling you what it is! It's a surprise!"
"You are welcome to come back and visit some other day if you wish." The deep voice of Oropher Lasgalen spoke softly once they had reached the majestic front doors, once again catching her by surprise. Why was he being so welcoming?
"It's ok." She said, waving a hand, grateful at his polite offer but not wanting to abuse. "I don't wish to impose."
"Please." His request made her blink a couple of times, losing her voice confused at the sudden pleading look concealed deeply in his powerful dark blue eyes.
"I…" She didn't know what to say, not understanding this sudden so very welcoming hospitality.
"He invited you inside, didn't he?" There was something on the older wizards eyes that she could not quite read, unable to mask the confusion from her face as she silently nodded her head, not understanding the conversation.
"I don't know who you are." He started again, his voice suddenly serious, yet there remained that strange gleam on joy in his eyes, once that she could not really place. "I don't know you, only that you are apparently my son's friend, of which I know he has barely any. But he invited you inside the house, and that is something he never does. So, please, you are welcome to return and visit any time you wish." More than an invitation, it was a plea…he wanted her to return….why?
Here's yet another chapter! :) not a long wait this time!
Again, thank you, thank you kindly to VanyaNold22, Eryniel Greenleaf, Rose6193 and zazanga for stopping by a dropping comments. Truly your comments make my day! It really means a lot to hear that you are enjoying the story and these jolly little characters. This chapter is for all of you!
Love,
Elena