A/N: I don't like to ask this but please review; it's nice to know what you guys think of my writing!
Chapter Twenty-three; Christmas jingles.
Cinderella; Sylvia Plath
The prince leans to the girl in scarlet heals
Her green eyes slant, hair flaring in a fan
Of silver as the rondo slows; now reels
Begins on tilted violins to span
The whole revolving tall glass palace hall
Where guests slide glide into the light like wine;
Rose candles flicker on the lilac wall
Reflecting in a million flagons' shine,
And glided couples all on whirling trance
Follow holiday revel begun long since,
Until near twelve the strange girl all at once
Guilt-stricken halts, pales, clings to the prince
As amid the hectic music and cocktail talk
She hears the caustic ticking of the clock.
Lola lay on the soft duvet in the darkened room listening to the familiar buzz of the computers, the faint whir and lighted bleeps. She felt safe in that room with the only light coming from the monitor's small green bleepers. An airy breeze wafted through the open window bringing with it the smell of grass, snow and engines.
The printer jolted into action with a wheezing nose sounding like "Milooo, Milooo, Milooo." She ignored the bit of paper gradually making its way out the safe enclosure of ink and mechanical clogs. Instead she buried her head further into the soft confines of freshly laundered sheets.
She new she was being a baby, selfish even but she felt hot and upset all her childhood fears and anguishes were impending back to her in one titanic wave that would swamp her, here she had some air.
A salty tear trickled down her face; she could feel a lump in her throat as she tried to swallow her sobs. Lola felt so stupid she was twenty four and hiding in her dad's tiny study so she could cry. She would do this as a little girl when she had a hissy fit, once when she was fourteen she got so upset she took her walkman and sat in there for the whole weekend with the door locked so her dad had to work from his office in town.
Once the brunette had come out her mother had been furious she had banned her from going out for a whole month, apparently her dad almost lost his job but Lola felt this was a fib. A dirty little fib to make her feel bad and it worked. Now she was feeling worse than ever why in the world her mother had bought it up she did not know but it had turned her white, pristine Christmas grey and polluted.
The minute Lola arrived at her parent's extravagant, large house all her mother could do was criticize her. Then this evening they had been sitting round the modern art deco dining table, with a few dinner guests politely eating there Christmas Eve dinner. Until her mother ruined her excitement at the childish proposal of Christmas morning by mentioning an incident three years ago that had effected her life forever.
It was horrible every one of her mothers posh guests had turned to face her, Lola suddenly felt exposed in her modest silver Chloe dress. She glared murderously at her mother Jude, who simply flicked her short curly hair over her shoulder. Subsequently Lola excused herself and bounded up the stairs the imprint of their gazes following her all the way up.
Lola just wished she were with her friends, the last she heard of them Angel and Spike had been in Tibet and were not coming back until god knows when. In addition, everyone else was at home; Dawn had apparently been going to see some mysterious friends more often then not. Lola wished with such an aching pain that she were with them; of course, she never said it out load for fear of Vengeance Demons.
"Darling are you going to come out or sulk in there all week?" her mothers patronizing voice carried out over the bleeps and whirs.
"Have they all gone?" she asked timidly
"Yes darling they have, Lola you can't spend your whole life running away from the past because otherwise it will ruin your future," she said wisely.
Lola's blush could have set a cigar even a metre away alight. She new her mother was right and hated it more than she hated sticky sweats in summer, when the bees are out. Feeling like a naughty child the young slayer made her way out the room and bad goodnight to her mother.
Flakes of delicate, flimsy snow fluttered over rooftops, parks, cars and even the darkest parts of murky alleyways. They lingered for a second in the tranquil air before coming to rest, cloaking London in a fairy tale white. The residence of the greying city new the snow would turn to slush in the morning, but still thousands of eyes watched its progress towards the soil.
Puddles now turned to ice, scattered themselves across the pavements and roads. Few cars ventured to drive through the streets, flooded by the yellow light of a thousand streetlamps standing out against the condensing blackness of the night sky.
Buffy watched from her perch by the window, a mug of hot chocolate in her hand and her woolly jumper pulled tightly over her knees. Her golden blond hair fell in curls over her gently rising chest.
"What's up B?" Faith said from behind her.
"Oh, nothing I was just thinking for some reason I'm oddly excited about Christmas," Buffy replied raising her eyebrows at Faiths faint reflection in the murky window.
"I know what you mean. I usually hate Christmas but…I dunno this year it's different," Faith said darkly.
"No need to be dramatic, I'm sure it will pass you'll be back to your judgemental, cynical and scary self in no time!" Xander said as he walked into the kitchen making a beeline for the biscuit tin.
"Oy watch it you!" Faith said. Xander just laughed and headed back to the evening movie Willow, Giles, Dawn and he were watching.
"C'mon lets see if Miracle on Twenty Fourth street is any good," said Buffy, stretching.
"Yeah alright I guess bad Santa Isn't such a terrible idea," Faith commented earning a playful hit from Buffy.
All over the country, people were enjoying relaxed cosy evenings. The Weasley family and Harry and Fleur were sitting round the hearth at the burrow. Harry and Ron were playing a lazy game of chess by the glowing embers of the fire, Ginny was curled up in an armchair watching the way Harry half concentrated on the game and half glanced at her shyly. This had been going on at meal times and any time they were near each other ever since the holidays started. She wished she could kiss him.
Fleur and Bill announced the departure to the bedroom; Molly was cleaning in the kitchen with Charlie, additionally, Arthur was talking to the twins about when they would be moving back into the flat.
The night started to take its toll occupants slowly made their ways up to the warm precincts of their bedrooms, where sleep was awaiting them. Christmas morning would come quicker if they went to sleep hastily. Mothers and fathers around the globe crept into their children's rooms placing their now full stockings by their beds. Nevertheless, some lay awake bighting their lips and gnawing their nails with fear.
Faye lay on her blue bed in a cold sweat of withdrawal, her mother thought she had the flew but she new better she hadn't had a fix for a week, she was slowly descending into the depths of madness where hallucinations were your only visitors. Draco Malfoy was dreading the day when he completed his task, it was drawing closer and when that day came he wasn't going to live for another, tomorrow was his last Christmas on earth.
Dawn lay in bed re playing the day she had spent with Ray… he never told her his last name. Dawn didn't dwell on the fact to long instead she remembered how nice he was, how handsome and daring. For some reason she still hadn't told Buffy about him, Dawn told herself it was because she didn't want to be teased, but deep down she new there was another more daunting reason why she refrained from speaking his name.
Christmas morning came; a red robin trilled the bells in a town square chimed and people all over woke to the delighted shrieks of children opening stockings. Dawn stretched her arms and looked round her room, which was bathed in a white sparkling light.
"I guess the snow settled!" she said grinning. The excited teen rushed into her sister's room to her surprise the blond was already up and making her way over to the door.
"Presents!" they said in unison.
Christmas morning in the household that held so many extraordinary people was filled with laughs, tea, soft music and joyous sounds of delight. The girls of the household embarked on the fantastic journey of Christmas lunch, with little help from Xander and Giles. Although the turkey wasn't at quite the standard that Jamie Oliver encouraged, they still didn't have any left over for sandwiches.
Soon the food had run out the new presents were becoming old and the day ended with all residences sprawled out around the Christmas tree, laden with hap hazard lights, a startling angel, red, golden and green baubles and twinkling stars that sung at regular intervals (Willows spell).
No one wanted the magical day to end, the day that had consisted of a fearsome snowball fight, a melting snowman and a broken lamp a result of Buffy's new samurai sward. They desperately tried to stay awake for fear of sleep because at the other end of sleep comes a new day and back to reality, back to checking everyday to see if there was any news on Eleanor Malfoy or any other leads, (meagre as they were).
There was one person who did not enjoy the festivities; Voldemort sat at his throne of darkness letting it barricade him, the thin wisps cloaked him in shadows of iniquity. He talked to a man with blond hair, a man who at the flick of his wan would stand, sit even kill.
Christian the trainee watcher had been under the imperious curse for quite some time now, he was the one who told his master of the Scoobies plans to destroy him in the cave, and he was the one who told him where they where the first time the death eaters surrounded all nine of the them.
Christian was reporting to Voldemort weather they were planning to attack again and any other scrap of information he could dwindle out of them. Soon Christian wouldn't just be the cause of a few unneeded fights but a whole war where many would die.