When they got back to Malfoy Manor, everyone went into the main sitting room for a drink from the special bottle of wine. There was no way that Rhyann could think of ingesting anything and she had excused herself so that she could go lay down. Her arm still felt as though it were sizzling and that agony was only slightly more than listening to Narcissa go on about how delicate she was, how they should have prepared her for such a thing by giving her a potion to numb the pain. She loathed being reminded of her frailties and curled up with her newly marked arm against her in her room.

She fell asleep at some point and did not dream. Rhyann thought, too, that at some point, there was a warm body wrapped around hers. When she woke though, there was no one else around and a blanket tucked around her small body. The early morning sun peeked through the heavy curtains of her room and there was the scent of pine mixing with peppermint in the air. She sighed and sat up in the canopied bed. It was Christmas morning and she was at the Malfoys. There would be no more nights at Rookwood Manor this year.

She brushed her left arm against her leg and winced. The brunette gingerly rolled up the sleeve of her robes to look at the brand. It was an angry red all around the Dark Mark. The serpent and skull seemed to have red eyes because of the inflammation of her skin. She had seen her uncles' marks and knew that would fade with time. She had never thought much about them before until the grotesque tattoo was now burned into her flesh. It seemed to her the ugliest thing she had ever seen and made her stomach queasy as though she wanted to vomit.

Since Rhyann was petite, it covered the full of her forearm. She would have to live with it on her for the rest of her life. She felt the tears beginning to well up in her eyes again. She swiftly straightened out her sleeve and dabbed at her eyes with it. Darcy had said that if everything went well, she might be able to stay home longer. It had made her feel better as they were leaving the night before, but now that hope was empty and she bowed her head against her knees, feeling the desire to fight it all drained out of her.

There was a sharp POP beside the bed and the dreamer startled, nearly skittering off the other side. Draco dove forward and caught her hand with a grin. "Good morning and Happy Christmas, love!"

"Oh gods... Draco!" She slowed down her heart in her chest and gave him a chastising glare. "You know I hate it when you do that."

"I miss being able to come see you whenever I want and wherever you are at Hogwarts. I have to take full advantage of it here." He smiled charmingly and crawled up on the large bed next to her, drawing her to him in a gentle embrace. "How do you feel this morning?"

Sighing, she lay her head against his chest. "I feel tired and like my arm is still on fire." She peered up at him. "Did you know why were being summoned to see the Dark Lord last night?"

"Yes, of course. My father told me." Draco kissed the top of her head and then let his lips wander down to capture hers. "The pain of it will go away within a week. It really isn't all that bad."

She looked at him disbelievingly and lay her head back against him again. Lucius had thought to tell him what it was about, but her uncles did not tell her. Did they think she would protest if she knew she would be receiving the Dark Mark? Did they want to surprise her with the honor? Rhyann could not understand why no one had thought to tell her the reason of her meeting with Voldemort. It made it look like Lucius trusted Draco more than her uncles trusted her. Her insides ached at that thought.

"You'll be okay." Draco said softly and lovingly brushed back a few dark locks from her face. He tipped her head back again and gave her a more lingering kiss. "Smile for me, Rhyann. I don't see your pretty smile often enough any more. It can be your Christmas present to me, if you'd like." He removed a little box from a pocket inside his robes with a grin. "This is my gift to you."

Rhyann could not help herself. It was not a full-fledged fae smile, but one did grace her lips. She did truly like their moments alone when it felt like it was before he had betrayed her. "I have a gift for you too, but it's back at Rookwood Manor."

"Your uncles had your trunk brought over last night. I bet it's in there!" He hopped up like an eager child and motioned to her trunk which was sitting just off to the side near the wardrobe. Seeing her expression, he gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. They're here too. Our families drank a little too much and since you were sleeping, we all thought it was best if you all spent the night."

She made a little motion with her hand. "Alright. Open it up and see if it's there."

Giving a little whoop, the blond flipped open the trunk and dove in, looking for any festively wrapped packages. He pulled out a green box with a golden bow on top and held it up to her expectantly. She laughed quietly and nodded. "Yes, that's yours."

Draco came back over and sat across from her, handing her the little red box from his robes before tearing into the gift in front of him. He drew out a gold rimmed book and his pale eyes grew wide. "I didn't think they had this book in print any more! Where did you find it!"

"I have my sources." Rhyann smirked at him, feeling pleased that he was impressed. "And not only did I find a pristine copy of the book, but I had all the Seekers who had ever played in the European League that are still alive sign it for you."

His jaw dropped further as he flipped through the pages of Seekers: The Golden Players. "You have... you really do have them all! Even Lance Bullion! No one has seen him in years!" Draco sprang across the bed and covered her face with kisses. Both of them winced and he pulled back with they bumped their left forearms against each other. "How did you get something like this!"

"I managed to find the book during one of my shopping trips with your mother over the summer. I've been collecting the signatures since then. Sometimes I get lucky and I can find them through the dreaming realm as with Bullion." Rhyann smiled proudly. "You must know how difficult it is to find something that a Malfoy does not already have!"

"This is the best gift I've ever gotten!" Draco replied whole-heartedly. "Thank you, love." He leaned over to give her another kiss and made sure not to hit either of their arms this time. "Open yours now!"

With much more control, the dreamer popped open the top of the small red box. Sitting inside upon green velvet was a delicate silver ring with a garnet stone set in it. She carefully picked it up between two fingers to get a better look at the ornate working of it. Looking more closely, she could see her initials and Draco's woven into the fine silver pattern that held the stone in place. It was an exquisite piece made just for her tiny hands. It made her heart flutter being reminded what a romantic he truly was. There was a part of herself that demanded she scold herself for such feelings but she inched her way over to him and gave him a long, deep kiss. "It's beautiful, Draco. Thank you."

"I'm so glad you like it." He smiled through another set of kisses. "Here. Let me put it on you." He slipped it on her ring finger and held up her hand to admire it before kissing the finger he placed it on. "It's a Promise Ring."

"A promise ring?" Rhyann thought on that a moment. It sounded familiar. "I think Pansy mentioned that Jasper gave her one. It's like the ring before the engagement ring." She said that a little stiffly.

"Well, there are those sorts of rings, but this is a Promise Ring. An enchanted one." He explained still holding her hand in his. "It will store all the promises we make to each other and if one of us breaks one, the ring will break. Just like I promise to love you forever."

The garnet stone glimmer briefly as he said that vow. Rhyann's brows furrowed. "Draco, I don't know..."

"Your turn, love." He prompted.

She narrowed her dark eyes at him. "I'm not going to have my promises to you enchanted like this."

"Don't you love me?" His voice still lilted playfully and he gave her his most charming smile.

"Of course I love you. You know that!" Rhyann went to pull off the ring but it would not budge. She grunted as she gave it a hard tug, but it refused to leave her finger. "Draco! Take it off!"

The young wizard folded his arms looking more than a bit disappointed. "It won't come off unless it breaks."

She let out a little frustrated screech and threw the box that had contained the ring to the other side of the room. "You gave me this so you could tell if I were lying to you or not! You don't trust me!"

"I trust you!" Draco protested, his good mood having disappeared. "You're the one who doesn't trust me."

"And why should I!" Rhyann hit the mattress with her little fists and jumped down off the other side. She tried to pull off the ring again and even yanked out her wand to see if she could break it. Nothing worked. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would lie and say that I didn't love you, but I don't. But love needs to be built upon faith and demonstrated through true actions. You tricked me. You're the one that lied to me!"

"That again!" He groaned with irritated exasperation. "I was only doing what was best for you. You simply just don't see it!"

"You were doing what was best for you!" She snapped back.

There was a tentative knock at her open door. "I guess now isn't the time to say Happy Christmas?"

The young couple whipped their heads towards the door to see Tristian leaning against the frame. A little smirk played across his lips but there was concern in his eyes. Rhyann went over and slipped her right arm around him, giving him a hug. "It's alright, uncle. We were just having an ages old 'discussion.'" She gave her boyfriend a look saying it was over for the moment.

"Ah, one of those sorts." Tristian was wise enough not to pursue the subject. He glanced down at his niece's arm and kissed the top of her head. "How do you feel this morning, my dear?"

"It still hurts. But I'm told it will feel better in a week." She held her branded arm against her and gave her uncle a little fae smile. "And any time is the right time for you to wish me a Happy Christmas. I promise that I will always be glad to see you."

The stone glimmered again and Draco scowled from across the room. Tristian looked down at the fine silver ring and raised his eyebrows slightly. "A Promise Ring? Interesting. It's very pretty though. You have good taste, Draco."

"Thank you." The blond muttered, his expression not echoing his words.

"Well, you two better get cleaned up and down to breakfast. Narcissa refuses to start eating until we're all there and I'm bloody starving!" Tristian grinned and pat his stomach as it growled in response to hearing about breakfast. He gave his niece one more peck on the cheek and strolled out of the room.

Rhyann and Draco stood there silently for another minute until he stalked over to the door. He grabbed his book as he passed the bed but did not treat it so gently as before. "I'm going to get changed."

"Alright." She replied coldly. She glanced over her shoulder at him. "I promise to see you downstairs for Christmas breakfast." The ring flared again and he marched off fuming.

She suddenly wished that she had not made him angry today. She would be spending the rest of her holidays here with him after all. A week of peace between them would have been nice. Sighing, Rhyann knew she could not take her words back and hung her head, a bit ashamed. No matter if she thought he deserved it or not, it was no way to resolve the situation if it could, indeed, be resolved. She walked heavily across her room, dressed and cleaned before going down to the formal dining room to face Christmas at Malfoy Manor.