~A Hypnotically Harmonious Christmas~

Christmas morning came in the form of glinting boxes under the massive Christmas tree and the smell of freshly baked sweets and treats.

Narcissa, desperate to have her fun with making Alyona into a version of the daughter she never had, sat the young girl down in her vanity while she tended to her appearance.

Narcissa kept Alyona on a tight beauty regimen. Her methods were calculated and precise, ensuring the exact same beautiful results every time.

Narcissa freshened up Alyona's smooth tresses, extended her eye lashes, and added a hint of blush to her tan cheeks. Once finished, she gazed into the mirror, looking pleased at Alyona's appearance.

"Look at you, so pretty," Narcissa admired as she used her well manicured fingers to shake out the curls to soften the look and add more volume, "Now, go on and get properly dressed. I'm sure Draco is waiting for you."

Once Alyona had thrown on a simple dress, she and Draco excitedly ran out to the living room together, excited to see what had been left for them under the tree.

Narcissa and her parents, as well as Lucuis and his father all walked into the living room where met with the sight of the children sorting through the pile of boxes in search of the ones addressed to them.

Draco gave one of his gifts a vigorous shake in order to make an educated guess as to what could be inside.

"Looks like you two beat the rest of us out here," Lucius said playfully, "Let's have Alyona open her gifts first, Draco."

As the family gathered around the tree, they watched the Blossom girl tear open the meticulously wrapped gifts and squeal in delight at what resided within them.

Within minutes, luxurious furs, delicate ruffles, sumptuous silks, and glittery jewelry littered the dark marble floor of the large living room.

Draco grinned delightfully as he watched his darling gush over the opulent garments that he had selected for her.

"Do you like all of it, Darling?" Draco asked lovingly.

Alyona nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. Her long locks bounced up and down along with her as she jumped for joy at her new gifts

"It's all so beautiful! Thank you!"

Once Draco had opened all of his gifts which ranged all the way from posh clothing and shoes to extravagant luggage bags and other leather goods, he and Alyona gathered as much of the luxury items into their arms as they could and ran to their shared room to try it all on.

As Alyona twirled around wearing a black cashmere jumper and a green tartan skirt, Draco admired her while he himself threw on one of the new coats he had received.

"What are you staring at?" Alyona asked playfully, "Do I look silly without any pink?"

"Not at all," He remarked, "I know pink is a Blossom thing, but these colors make you look simply magnificent."

Draco began rummaging through the pile of gifts that rested on top of their bed until he found what he was looking for.

Draco walked back over to Alyona, holding a silk headband of a similar hue to the pleated skirt she was currently donning.

He gently slid the accessory onto her head and smiled, "My Slytherin princess~"

~ooOOOoo~

While the men had once again decided to speak on important matters within Lucius's office, Narcissa was eager to escape her mother and decided to venture back to her vanity room.

"Come in," Narcissa called out. She smiled sweetly when she saw her son's figure walking through the doorway.

"Hello, Mother," Draco said respectfully," I don't mean to disturb you, but I just wanted to ask about the occlumecy lessons."

Narcissa sighed with guilt, "Yes, I promise I haven't forgotten."

Draco gleamed with joy, "Oh good! Can we practice later today?"

Narcissa spun around to face her son, "Darling, I want to help you with that, truly. But, I don't think we should practice while your grandparents are here."

Draco immediately became overwhelmed with confusion and annoyance, "Why not?! I've waited so patiently!"

"Draco, do not raise your voice at me like that," Narcissa said firmly, "I know it's important, and we'll get to it when we can, alright?"

"Yes, Mother," Draco obediently replied as he sulked out of the room.

After his exchange with his mother, the young Malfoy went to find his father to discuss what should be done about Buckbeak.

Once Draco had made it to his fathers office, he failed to knock, opting to just open the door and waltz right inside.

Draco's eyes went wide as he looked upon his father, and two grandfathers conversing about something as Lucius held his death eater mask to his face.

"Draco?! What have I told you about knocking!?" Lucius snarled as he withdrew the mask from his face to hide it behind himself.

Draco quickly shut the door and ran off, wishing he could forget what he had just seen.

The platinum haired boy rushed back to his room where he found Alyona still obsessing over her new wardrobe.

"Come with me," Draco insisted as he took hold of her arm.

"What? Where are we going?" She asked.

"You'll see," Draco responded as he guided her down the hall.

The pair ended up finding their way down to the large library that the two had spent a good portion of their time during the summer.

Once inside, Draco locked the door and sat both Alyona and himself down on one of the cushioned benches.

"Draco, what are we doing in here?" Alyona inquired.

"Sing for me," Draco said.

Alyona was stunned, "Sing? I—I can't. Your parents aren't here, what if something goes wrong?!"

Draco placed a gentle hand on Alyona's shoulder to soothe her worries, "It'll be fine, Darling. Nothing bad will happen."

"But—" Alyona murmured.

"I said sing!" Draco commanded zealously.

Alyona was skeptical, but knew that Draco wouldn't intentionally jeopardize their safety. After a moment of thought, she reluctantly began to sing.

The moment the sound waves met his eardrums, Draco felt extremely calm and undeniably relaxed, a feeling as though all of his worries and cares had melted away into oblivion as pure euphoria took hold of him.

Despite this wonderful state of being, Draco knew he had to fight.

As soon as Draco began to resist, it felt as if someone was taking a sledgehammer directly to his frontal lobe. While his vision was compromised, he was still able to hear a muffled version of Alyona's voice as wave after wave of excruciating pain surged through his cranium.

It was almost as if Alyona's voice itself was punishing him for refusing to surrender to it's influence.

Despite the torturous pain, the young Malfoy heir continued to fight back against the hypnotic power of the siren song. He kept the small portion of his mind that he was able to control fully focused on his end goal.

The thought of being one of few men able to casually listen to Alyona's beautiful singing without any struggle was enough to drive him forward.

As their practice time has reached the twenty minute mark, Draco had to stifle his cries and whimpers as best he could as he demanded that Alyona continue singing.

"Ugh, d–don't stop s—singing! I can do t—this!"

By this point, as the hellish agony throbbed through his brain, Draco felt that he would soon fall unconscious from the pain when, for a brief moment, his vision had partially returned to him.

As the cloudy fog that blurred his sight had begun to slowly vanish, Draco was once again looking upon his beloved who continued to serenade him.

Alyona also begun to notice the hazy film leaving Draco eyes. She began to feel intense joy upon seeing how strong Draco was, how willful his mind was.

"I—I think I'm almost t—through," Malfoy stammered as he tried to keep his mind stable and steady.

Alyona was in awe at the sight of Draco's normal grey eyes looking back at her as she continued to sing to him.

Once the amazement had fully gotten to her, she ceased singing and leaned in to hug Draco.

"I did it, Love! I did it!" Draco cheered.

"You're head, does it hurt like last time?" She asked him.

Draco shook his head enthusiastically, "Not at all!"

"Okay, well…I'm going to sing again, to see if you can do it a second time," Alyona said, to which Draco quickly agreed to.

Upon the second attempt, Draco's eyes never even glossed over. He sat there, In front of the singing girl, finally able to fully take in the mesmerizing beauty of her voice.

"My god...Your voice is beautiful~" Draco gasped

"You did it!" Alyona cheered," Wait until we tell your parents the good news!"

"Hmmm, Maybe let's not tell them just yet, Draco suggested, "My father will give me a right mouthful if he finds out that I did this behind his back, my mother won't be too pleased either."

~ooOOOoo~

As soft Christmas music was being played by the enchanted instruments in the corner of the large room, the kids sat at the dining table, playing a board game as the adults droned on about the current state of the wizarding world.

"Have my parents talked to you guys at all? I would have thought that they'd be at the train station of at least written to me," Alyona asked in a concerned tone.

Narcissa, who was thoroughly board with listen to the men complain about the ministry, perked up upon hearing Alyona's question.

"Oh, how silly of me, I almost forgot," Narcissa said, "Wheezy, fetch Alyona's other gifts!"

Within a moment, Wheezy returned holding a few small, rosy pink boxes with an envelope that rested on top.

Alyona smiled as she saw that her parents hadn't indeed forgotten her.

She was moderately pleased to see the cute, pink accessories that her family had sent her, but what she was most excited for, was the letter that came with their gifts.

She opened the pink envelope and began reading.

…………………………………………………………………..

Hello, sweetheart.

Your father and I, as well as Apollo have been doing everything we can to find Alexander and bring him home.

We feel it's best for you to remain with the Malfoys. We have spoken to Dumbledore about the happenings at your school and he will see to it that further safety measures will be taken.

We hope you love the gifts we sent you.

-Love, Mummy and Daddy.

…………………………………………………………………..

"What did they write to you about?" Draco asked.

"They're just glad I'm here with you guys, for my safety and all," Alyona responded, "They must be talking about what happened in the library."

Lucius and Narcissa were instantly attuned to the conversation.

"What's this now?" Lucius queried, "What happened in the library?"

Alyona looked over to Draco, who looked nervous as if he was caught red handed.

"Didn't you write to your parents about it? I told mine," Alyona asked him.

"I…I…," Draco stuttered.

Lucius, doing his best to remain calm on this joyous occasion, said, "Draco, what is she talking about?"

Draco swallowed thickly as he remained silent.

"Draco…Tell me, this instant," Lucius demanded.

Alyona covered her mouth out of shock. She realized that Draco had indeed kept this information from his parents, Most likely for, what he though, was a good reason.

"We were attacked in the library a couple months ago. We didn't see who did it, but whoever it was, they…almost killed us both."

Lucius stared angrily at his son, "And why have you kept this from your mother and I?"

"Because…," Draco croaked.

The others in the room remained quiet in anticipation of Draco's answer, especially Alyona.

"Out with it, now," Lucius growled.

"I didn't want the Blossoms to withdraw Alyona from Hogwarts…I didn't want them to take her away…"

Lucius sighed with anger, "First that daft headmaster of yours allows for my son to be assaulted by that stupid horse-bird, and now he's allowed an assailant to slip through the cracks and attack you two!? What until Fudge hears about this."

"Are you two okay? Were you hurt?" Narcissa asked worriedly.

"We're fine, I'm made sure she was safe," Draco said proudly," We dodged the attacker's ambush and I got her safely out of the library."

"While I am proud that you protected her, "Lucius complimented his son, "However, just because neither of you sustained any injuries, does not mean you had the right to keep this from me."

"I'm sorry that we didn't tell you, mister Malfoy," Alyona apologized.

Lucius looked at the young girl and gave her a smile of reassurance, "No no, dear. It was not your responsibility to tell us about this. It was Draco's."

~ooOOOoo~

After a fun New Years at the manor, the Malfoys said their goodbyes to Narcissa's parents, much to her delight, before returning to platform nine and three-quarters to once again see Draco and Alyona off to another semester at school.

Once the two had board the train and found an empty cabin, Draco began recounting his conversations with his parents over the holiday break.

"I spoke to my father more about the goings on at school, especially regarding Hargrid's over-sized pigeon."

"Oh? What does he want done about the situation," Alyona asked with great anticipation, due to her seeing how furious his father was about the situation.

"Have you ever seen how chickens or turkeys are taken care of before they're can be prepared to be eaten?" Draco asked with a smug smirk.

Alyona sat back in horror, bringing her hand up to her neck and signaling a beheading.

"Like…?" She asked as she made the slicing motion.

"Exactly," Draco replied, "I can't wait to watch."

Alyona seemed uncomfortable, she pulled at the collar of her dress as she swallowed thickly.

"What's that matter?" Malfoy asked out of concern, "Are you hot? Do you want some water, Darling?"

Alyona looked at her Slytherin prince, her doe-like eyes signaling a sense of supplication.

"Well…are you sure it needs to come to that?"

Draco wrinkled his nose at her question, "Of course it does, I was injured by that bloody thing! Don't you want to see justice served for that?"

Alyona nodded, "Ya, I…I do. But, well…but does Buckbeak need to be put to death?"

Draco chuckled at Alyona's display of concern, he leaned over to embrace her, comfortingly.

"Actions have consequences, If someone hurt you severely, I'd kill them myself," Draco said confidently.

Alyona's eyes went wide, "Really? You…You'd go that far for me?"

Draco nodded, "Without hesitation."

~ooOOOoo~

Back at school, Alyona was relaxing on one of the luxe sofas while she waited for Draco to come down when she spotted Pansy Parkinson walking down from the dormitories.

Pansy's hair looked as if it was meticulously styled while a bright pink headband adorned her black tresses.

Alyona watched Pansy pay her no mind as she walked confidently past the couches and took a seat near the exit from the common room.

"What the—"

Suddenly, Draco approached the young girl as he came down from his dorm, dressed sharply in his fine school robes.

"Are you ready to head upstairs, Darling?" Draco asked.

"Uh, yeah," Alyona said, "Let's go, Handsome."

The two Slytherins took each other's hand and began to walk toward the exit as Pansy twirled her hair and looked longingly at Draco.

The Malfoy heir didn't notice this, but Alyona certainly did…

Once upstairs and seated in the great hall, A few post owls had entered the room and begun dropping letters and small packages off for their respective students.

Alyona was surprised to see her owl drop a small package for her.

"Oh god, please don't be something bloody…" she pleaded as she began to open the black wrappings.

Upon opening the package, Alyona was met with a small black envelope and an exquisite, black feather shawl shrug.

Alyona admired the luscious sheen of the feathers as she immediately placed it on her shoulders and tied the black ribbon into a neat bow at the top of her chest.

"Oh wow, that's pretty," Draco commented, "Who's that from?"

Alyona opened the small envelope, partially terrified that it would be another letter written in blood.

To her delight, it was a normal letter written in regular ink that read:

………………………………………………………………………..

You left this behind, my darling

………………………………………………………………………..

"This is all it says," Alyona said as she handed Draco the note, "Your mother must have found it in our room after we left."

"This isn't my mother's handwriting, nor my father's…" Draco murmured, "I don't remember you getting a feather boa for Christmas, either.

"Well, it's not my parent's handwriting…" the Blossom girl added.

Alyona further examined the beautiful garment to discover a leather tag on one end of it.

Engraved in a cursive font, the initials: N.E.B. were placed upon the small label.

Alyona chalked this up to the initials being that of the person who designed the exquisite cape and just decided to enjoy her new gorgeous and unexpected gift.

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