The soft knocking on the door to Bellatrix's bedroom stirred her awake.
"Bella, you awake?" her sister's voice came from the other side of the closed door.
She sat up sleepily, "Of course. What is it Cissy?" she called groggily resting her hand on her forehead for support.
"I just wanted to see if you were going to come down and open Christmas presents with us," Narcissa said muffled by the wood door between them.
"Christmas," Bella muttered softly before her brain processed the word and her eyes flew open wide. She had no idea how much she loved Christmas until she did not have it. "Christmas! Hold on!" she shouted the excitement clearly audible.
Bellatrix flew out of bed and threw her silky black dressing gown over her pajamas and opened the door. One of the things she loved about Christmas the most was being able to stay in her pajamas all morning. A large smile was painted across her lips as her eyes met her sister's.
"Happy Christmas Cissy!" she exclaimed as she hugged her sister tightly.
"Happy Christmas Bella!" Narcissa said as she hugged her sister back. "Shall we head down?" she asked gesturing down to the sitting room.
Bella nodded excitedly as the pair headed downstairs to where the rest of the Malfoy family was waiting. Narcissa had stayed up late to finish decorating after the meeting last night and it definitely paid off. The sitting room looked completely different, a large tree sitting in the corner covered in twinkling lights and decorations. Under the tree was stacked with shiny wrapped presents, most of them, Bellatrix assumed were for her nephew Draco.
"Happy Christmas!" Bella exclaimed as her and her sister entered the room.
It was obvious that Lucius and Draco were slightly taken aback by her uncharacteristic cheer but smiled and returned the greeting. She took a seat on one of the plush chairs and watched as her family began to exchange presents, but mostly as Draco unwrapped the majority from his parents. She knew Draco had always been spoiled but this year even more so because he had killed Dumbledore. Eventually, even Draco's mountain of presents dwindled down. As Bellatrix was stuck inside the manor and Narcissa did not need any more stuff the sister's had agreed on not exchanging gifts this year, so she was surprised when Narcissa handed her a plainly wrapped box from under the tree.
"Cissy! We said no presents!" Bella exclaimed with a slight frown on her face. She felt terrible now that she did not find a way to get her sister something.
Narcissa smiled and shook her head, "It's not from me. Actually, I'm not sure who it's from."
Bella looked down at the package in her hand, wrapped in plain black paper with her name written in silver letters on it. She eyed her sister skeptically as she tore off the paper and opened the box carefully. Inside, wrapped in a piece of emerald velvet, was the most beautiful silver dagger Bellatrix had ever seen. The knife hilt was made of bone that had a serpent carved into it with emeralds for eyes. She picked it up, examining the blade carefully, it must have been incredibly old and it clearly had seen magic. Bella looked up at her sister with wide eyes who knowingly shook her head from side to side and gave her a simple shrug.
The rest of the day went smoother than any family holiday that Bellatrix had any recollection of. She spent the whole day with her family though she did eventually change out of her pajamas and into her robes. She tucked her new knife into the pocket next to where she kept her wand. There was no point in owning such a fine blade if it was never with her to use. After a large Christmas dinner, Narcissa and Lucius opened a barrel of mead from the family's private store to continue the celebration. Bella was thankful for the company, her family kept her mind from wandering too much. Somewhere, deep down, she was rather hopeful that she would get to spend some time with her master. She knew what an insane idea it was, but she could not help but think it. Narcissa and Lucius were dancing to music playing over the wireless that Draco had pulled out. Draco was sitting next to Bella, who was almost as drunk as her sister and brother-in-law, and was clapping along with the beat of the song and laughing along with his aunt. It was hard to think of her longing when she was having so much fun but at the same time, it made her long for her master more. She was always sure that she would die in service to the Dark Lord but now she thought the longing might do her in. She absolutely loved it and was privileged to have whatever moments her master gave her.
The fact that Rodolphus had not been brought up the entire day was even more of a blessing. Part of her felt bad as the two of them had always worked very well together. The other part of her was ready to sever the ties for good, he acted like the last 13 years had not happened and everything was to be as it was. As much as she would love to, Bellatrix would never be able to put the past 13 years behind her. She would move on, but her time in Azkaban would always be in the farthest depths of her mind. Part of her wondered what he was up to today, but really she was glad he did not come and ruin her first Christmas back.
Her family's drunk antics carried on, all four of them now up and dancing around the formal dining room. The only light in the room was from the roaring fire and a few scattered lamps around the large room. It was an absolutely beautiful way to end the day's festivities.
In the height of their drunken festivities, Bella felt her forearm begin to tingle and burn. Her eyes widened as she looked around the room to see if Draco's or Lucius's marks were also calling them to their master's side. As her family continued on, her heart raced knowing that her master called for her alone. Her eyes darted around nervously as she needed an excuse to leave but was much too intoxicated to think anything remotely clever up.
Finally, she blurted out, "I'll be right back," and with a pop disapparated leaving her family staring at the spot she had just been standing.
She hoped that everyone was too drunk to get weird about her taking off like that. She did not have much of a choice, she would not keep her master waiting. The next moment she was standing in a poorly lit room, somewhere in the manor, it seemed by the view out the moonlight window. When her master did not immediately come into view she quickly turned on her heels searching for his image. It took only a quick turn before she saw his dark figure standing in front of a brightly lit fire. She smiled madly, way too drunk to hide the feelings she had for her master.
"Happy Christmas, my Lord," she beamed as she dashed over to her master's side.
He smiled at her, amused by her drunken state, "Happy Christmas, Bella," he said softly. "You have clearly enjoyed the day with your family," he added as she came to stand beside him.
She nodded happily, "Yes, my Lord. It has been a very nice day," her speech slightly slurred as her large dark eyes gazed up at him fondly.
He looked away from her and into the fire, "I was going to take you out this evening for a little bit of Christmas cheer, but you are in no state to be out in the open." An instant wave of sadness and guilt washed over her as she stood speechless at his side. The Dark Lord turned back to look at her, amused fondness on his face, "We will just have to go in the morning when you have had time to sleep it off."
Bella grinned broadly, "Thank you, my Lord," she said as she bowed her head.
Before she had time to raise her head back up her master had wrapped his arms around her and disapparated. The next thing she knew she was being scooped up and placed into a large bed, a bed that most certainly was not Bella's. Her eyes widened as they moved to search her master's face which was as ever unyielding. She would never know anything that he did not allow her, but that made the moments he allowed her mean that much more. Normally she would never be so forward with her master, but as she was drunk and lying next to him in what she assumed was his bed, she felt it worth the risk. She snuggled up to him, her head lying softly on his chest, a smile unfading from her lips. Voldemort closed his arm around her thin frame, keeping her close while she drifted off to sleep.