Hello again, wonderful readers! This is now, chapter 17!

Thank you to bkny1, ameisrain, TheDarkSideoftheMind, Dizzy potter, and indigofrisbee for their reviews and favorites ^_^

enjoy!


Our Time is Running Out

Parchment 17: A Merry Little Christmas

Christmas eve had finally arrived. It was snowing, the sky was sparkling with lights, and Lixella was still only asking for one thing for Christmas, to leave London forever. She wanted to be home, with her family, around a large Christmas tree. Right now they'd be opening one gift, and drinking hot cider. However, she was stuck at Malfoy manor. Even worse, she didn't know how to get through to Draco.

Since the party, they hadn't spent much time with each other. Perhaps she was too harsh in her judgment. Then again, he had accepted to kill off one of the greatest wizards of all time. Lixella could see him now. He would be offered the job, and accept it with a pompous smirk. He would have no clue what was in store for him, but think himself beyond worthy, all because he was singly chosen for the job. She nearly vomited as she imagined him nodding and saying, "yes", with that tone of arrogance, that she despised.

She didn't want to be here for Christmas eve, luckily, tomorrow she would be picked up and taken to Cruxshade manor. If only she could spend the rest of her break there. For some reason her aunt and uncle were still being watched. A thought crossed her mind, perhaps it wasn't the ministry at all, perhaps Voldemort was just threatening them. The sad part was, it was more likely Voldemort than the ministry.

Her attention moved over to a box, sitting by the window. Illunia had delivered it to her this morning. To her dismay, it contained Draco's present. She had tossed around the idea of getting him something for quite a while. The two of them had been so bipolar with each other, lately, that she wasn't sure if he was worth the money. It came down to the fact that he'd saved her life, twice already. Plus, at the time, he seemed to genuinely care about getting her through being a death eater.

Lixella walked over to the window, and picked up the box. It was small and royal blue. There was an insignia on the top in gold ink. It was a company called "Prickpoth and Jaggerly", they were a small enchanting company that her father used to work for. She didn't want to open it, because she only felt anger towards him, at the moment. The box was placed back onto the window sill.

A knock came from her door.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Come downstairs." said an all too familiar voice.

"I don't really want to. I'm not feeling up to it, Draco!"

"Bloody hell, woman! You've been in there for nearly two days. Do you eat? Are you trying to starve to death? Do I have to break down the door? Just get out here!" he began yelling.

"What will you do if I don't?"

"Really, Lixella? You're going to play these stupid childish games, with me?" his voice became annoyed, "Since when do you brood in a room for 2 days straight. If I pulled that rubbish, you'd have my throat for it! Why, I'd never hear the end of it from you!"

The door swung open, she stood there glaring at him. Her arms were crossed, and the atmosphere around her felt very closed.

"Whatever, Malfoy!" she pushed past him, and headed for the stairs.

"OH! no longer on a first name basis I see…" he sneered, "tch…you're just as bad as Potter! Just, angst over the stupidest little things."

It was as if he had devolved. He had gone back to his snarky, primped, pure blooded self. Lixella did not even stop to glare at him. She just headed down the stairs and into the foyer. However, she stopped once she noticed that the place was deathly silent.

"Why is it so quiet?" she asked to no one.

"We're the only ones here!" said Draco as he arrived down the stairs.

"Where's your mother?"

"….She's….visiting my father" his voice trailed off, uncomfortably.

"I'm…sorry," Lixell shifted her gaze towards a wall, "I umm…I didn't know you could visit people at Azkaban."

"Well, it's not common. In fact, it rarely ever happens. But, it's Christmas eve, and I doubt they can stop my mother."

They both just stood in the foyer for a few minutes. Each of them were lingering on a separate memory of their families. Lixella was still picturing her Christmas eve at home. Draco, however, was just thinking about his father. It was so silent, and awkward, that neither of them was sure how to break it.

"Well…" Lixella started, she looked down at her hands, "look, Draco…..I'm sorry, okay! I know that I've been pretty pissy lately"

"tch, yeah you have!" he scoffed under his breath. Lixella nearly slapped him.

"try to contain yourself, while I swallow my pride and attempt to be a decent person, please!" she said.

"sorry…" he said half heartedly, under his breath.

"Anyways, I've been pretty pissy lately. I'm just trying to take all of this in, I'm not used to being so damn important. Nor am I anywhere near prepared to face all of this stuff. I just feel, so, unready for all of the things that are going to be happening soon. I don't think I can handle it all."

"you done?" he asked

"Yes….Draco…I'm finally finished, sorry to have wasted your time!" she turned to head back upstairs, "so, is that all you wanted? To scold me, or should I stick around for dessert? Perhaps you'll be serving up some deliciously basted dead baby puffs! Or, perhaps a heaping helping of your favorite, not giving a damn!"

"I missed it, ya know" he said, she stopped walking, "I missed that sharp tongue of yours. I thought you'd gotten soft on me, Lixella. I don't like softies! Look, part of the reason why I like you so much, is because you can shut me the hell up! I don't think you've noticed but there are only a few people in this world who can do that. Two of them are my parents, one of them….well, let's just say Granger is horrifying at times. But, you….you have no authority over me, nor do you despise me to the point of wanting to kill me. You're just a girl, who is very good at making me speechless. If you can do that, then I don't know why you can't figure all of this out."

Lixella looked down at the railing of the staircase. She chuckled, he was right, she had gotten soft. The usual Lixella wouldn't be so worried about failing, she would've just gone for it. It was funny, how she hadn't noticed the change.

"I guess keeping you around was a good idea after all, huh Malfoy?" she said, smirking.

"you think that you were keeping me around?" he said, "please, Cruxshade! You can't live without me."

"dear god" she whispered as she planted her face into her hands, "your smugness is almost suffocating."

"Yeah….it's great isn't it." he smirked, "I'd say I've just about mastered it, wouldn't you?"

"No" said Lixella, "Now, is there an actual reason you wanted me down here. Or did you just get lonely? Little dwakie all by himself, scared of his big house?"

She headed down the stairs, and they began walking towards the kitchen.

"I'm not scared. I just wanted to make sure you weren't starving, is all. I'm trying to be the better person here, Lixella. Try to show some decency, please?"

"OH, trust me Draco, I have tons more than you could handle."

"Really? I think I can handle it! If you uhh…know what I mean" he eyed her up and down.

"oh, barf!" she gagged

"That's not what you said when I kissed you on the astronomy tower. In fact, as I remember, I think you were at a loss for words there!"

"I…" she stopped, he was right, "I was merely, admiring the view. You had nothing to do with it!"

"Denial is the first stage, Lixella. One of these days you'll just have to give in to the fact that you find me irresistible."

"I can resist you, Draco. Trust me!" she glared at him.

"really?" he asked sitting down at the bar in his kitchen.

"Of course, you're not hard to look past." she said, standing across the room.

His face became almost cynical. He got up from his chair, and marched across the room.

"What are you doing?" Lixella asked, but before she could get another word in, he had her pinned against the wall. Then, he nearly forced his lips onto hers. Lixella didn't even have time to breath. She, also, didn't really want him to stop. So, she stood there, pinned against the wall, practically snogging Draco.

Then, a thought crossed her mind, and she pushed him off of her. He looked at her, extremely confused, because he was sure that she was enjoying it. Her face twisted into something almost evil. She then knocked him down onto the floor. He was on his back, staring up at her, with fear in his eyes. She leaned in very close, her lips next to his right ear.

"It's so cute" she whispered, "When you think you're the dominant one."

Her lips went crashing onto his. She began kissing him with as much lust and passion as she could. He had never been so turned on by anyone in his life. But, suddenly, she stopped.

"You shouldn't worry about me resisting you, Draco. The question is…..can you resist me?"

She dismounted him, and headed out of the kitchen. He was left, speechless, and very much turned on.

"She's crazy…" he said, still catching his breath, "I'm falling for a mad woman"

"Oh….hello, Mrs. Malfoy!" sounded a voice from the foyer.

"Shit!" he cursed as he scrambled to get up. He was not about to let Lixella have the satisfaction of watching his mother scold him. However, there was another problem, the "excitement" that Lixella had left, in his pants. Certainly, his mother could not see this. He started devising a plan of escape, the servant door to upstairs would be best.

"Draco?" said Narcissa as she opened the kitchen door, "why are you in here? And, where are you going?"

He peered his head around the doorway, not moving an inch out of it.

"Upstairs…I erm…I forgot something." he said, nervously.

Lixella walked in, and snorted at the current scene.

"Oh, so he was in here!" she said with a sly grin, from behind Narcissa.

He then, proceeded to dash upstairs as fast as he possibly could.

"That boy" Narcissa sighed, "I swear, sometimes I think he should be in St. Mungo's. Anyway, how are you, Lixella? It's Christmas eve, and I've barely said a word to you."

"Fine" she said, sitting down in a nearby chair, "A bit homesick."

"Hm" Narcissa said, "it seems everyone is without someone important this Christmas."

She began gazing out the window. Her mind seemed to be somewhere distant. Most likely it was making it's way to Azkaban, with Lucius.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Malfoy" Lixella said, "I wish I could remember him better."

"It is a shame, you know" her attention returned from the window, "that you can't remember anything from your childhood. You did spend a great deal of time here in the summer."

"Really? I mean I knew that I had come here, but was it that often?" asked Lixella.

"Oh yes! Your aunt would bring you all the time. I didn't want to refuse, your aunt and I are very good friends. I think your aunt told me that your family used to take vacations in England, and then move to Ireland, to visit your mother's sister. But, often times, you would come over here."

"There are so many things that I wish I could remember. It's all a blur to me."

"Actually, and he won't admit it. But, having you over, was the highlight of Draco's summer, quite often."

Lixella laughed, and then stared at a tile on the floor. If only she could remember those summers. If only she could remember, anything.

"Dear, he won't tell you this, so I'm going to. My son has a very stubborn personality, he gets it from his father. But, he really does care about you, Lixella. He loves you, very much. So, don't think too terribly of him. Whatever he does, he does it because he is a very confused boy, not because he's evil."

"Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy" Lixella said

"You can call me Narcissa, you know? I've known you long enough. Plus, you're staying in my house for Christmas eve! And, speaking of Christmas eve, it's about time we started treating it as such. Go get Draco, I've not spent this Christmas brooding, so neither can you two."

Lixella nodded, and made her way upstairs, to Draco's room. The hallway was eerily silent, as if no one had been there in years. She knocked on his door three times.

"Draco, hey, you're mom wants you downstairs…" there was no answer, "Draco?"

Lixella began getting worried, she opened the door, and peered inside. There wasn't anyone in his room. She stepped in and began examining. His room was far too green. The walls were emerald green with black vertical stripes. The curtains over the window were black velvet. They draped down to a green carpeted floor. On that floor sat matching dark cherry wood furniture. His bed was made up with green sheets and a black silk blanket. There was also, what looked like, a closet sitting off to the right corner.

"God, it's like he's trying to scream 'I'm in Slytherin'." Lixella could not believe just how green and black his room was. Then, she noticed a box, sitting on the bed, half way open, with tissue paper scattered around. Lixella walked over to pick it up.

"What are you doing?" he asked from the doorway, "I leave for two seconds, and you are already peering at your present! naughty naughty"

"Is it a present? Really?" she asked

"Of course it is! You think I wouldn't get you anything?"

"No…"

"Well, I did…now put it down, you can't open it!"

"Fine" she put the box back onto the bed.

"Why are you in here?" he asked.

"You're mom wants both of us downstairs. She says that you aren't allowed to brood up here. But, we both know that's not what you were doing." she glanced down at his pants for a second.

"I could kill you, Lixella! Do you realize how much you could've embarrassed me? How much trouble you could've gotten me into? Could've gotten us into?"

"Yeah" she said, waltzing over to the doorway, "but, that's why I left you there….speechless."

She kissed him once, and then skipped down the hall.

"Don't wait up!" she shouted.

He stayed behind for a bit, and continued wrapping her present. Once he was finished, he headed down to the living room. Lixella and Narcissa were sitting in front of the fire.

"Draco, now that I can actually see the rest of you" Narcissa said as she got up. She hugged him, and they both sat down on the couch. Lixella sat in a chair to the left of them. They spent a good portion of the night sitting by the fireplace, drinking wine and talking about past events. Most of them were stories to help Lixella remember her summer's at Malfoy manor.

"Oh, of course!" said Narcissa, "Draco used to come in all of the time, covered in mud. The two of you fought like wild dogs! You ruined so many of the nice clothes that I would buy for him."

"I'm so sorry" Lixella laughed.

"She did not push me in mud, mother." Draco sneered.

"Oh please, Draco! This was the only girl on the planet that you were afraid of as a child. And yet, every time she would come over, you would practically jump up with excitement."

Lixella swore that she saw Draco turn pink at the mention of this.

"Now, Lixella…do you remember anything?" asked narcissa

"Well, the thing is, I can remember very little, but most of it is blurry." she responded.

"Such a shame, you two could've grown up as such good friends, had that summer not happened."

"Yeah, then I'd have someone to ruin all of my good clothes now! Great idea."

"oh…I'm sure I've ruined a few already" said Lixella under her breath.

Narcissa nearly spat out her sip of wine. Draco looked at her wide eyed.

"What did you say, dear?" asked Narcissa with shock

"nothing…nothing at all" said Lixella.

Despite the fact that she was stuck at Malfoy manor, Lixella was having a wonderful Christmas eve. She'd spent the night laughing and recovering her lost memories. But, it had begun getting late, and they were ushered to bed by Narcissa. They all headed upstairs, wishing each other a good night. Lixella sat on the windowsill bench in her guestroom, and stared out at the snow.

"Hey" sounded a sudden voice from her doorway.

"Shouldn't you be asleep, Draco?" she asked

"Okay, pause the snark, I wanted to give you something" he said, and removed a box from behind his back. It was small and flat, and wrapped in green wrapping paper. He handed it to her, and she began unwrapping it. Her jaw dropped, once she removed the tissue paper.

Inside was a necklace, made of shimmering silver. It was carved with a black swirling design, around an oval cut emerald.

"open it" he said

She stared at him for a second, because the necklace didn't look like a locket. He nodded, and she opened it. Inside was a moving picture. A young version of her mother and father, were sitting next to each other on a couch. In her mother's arms was a small infant Lixella. Every few seconds, her dad would lean in and whisper something, and her mom would kiss him. They both smiled at her. Lixella's eyes began to fill with tears. She had never received something so beautiful from anybody.

"dear god…" she whispered, "thank you"

"Merry Christmas, Lixella" he said, "I'm glad you like it!"

"Like it…Draco, this is the most wonderful thing anyone's ever given me. I mean, I've had some lovely gifts in the past…..but this, this is…."

Lixella stared at the locket again. "I…how did you get this picture?" she asked, sniffling.

"I saw it on a shelf, the day I went to your house. I went back and asked your uncle if I could use it."

"I can't even….wow" she said and kissed him on the cheek. Then, she began fumbling around for her present. She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it, removing the small blue box.

"Here" she said, sniffling and wiping away the remnants of her tears.

"ah, so you did get me something!" he said.

"Yeah, it's not quite to the point of tear worthy though."

He opened the small package to find a pocket watch. It, also, was shimmering silver with black detailing. The cogs inside were visible, and spun with elegance. The numbers were placed on the clock face in shimmering green. The 12 had been replaced by a coiled dragon.

"It's lovely" he said.

"Well, actually, that's not it" she said, "it's enchanted. See the company is one my dad used to work for, they enchant items with special abilities."

"So it does more than tell time?" he looked confused, and began studying the watch for something interesting.

"Yes, in fact, it can translate and tell the time in banshee language." she said. She took the watch from him and popped open the glass. She then turned the second hand to 12, and tapped on the dragon. "Look, banshee is the most beautiful language I've ever heard, but it's inaudible to humans. We hear it as screeches, but with this, you can hear how lovely it is. Hold it up to your face, not against it….just up to it."

He held the watch up in front of him. Lixella leaned down to the watches level, and began making an awful low screeching noise. Then, the watch clicked and the hands spun with intense speed.

"Merry Christmas, Draco" he heard from his end. She was right, it was the most lovely language he had ever heard. The words were slow and soft. It was almost like listening to a lullaby.

"Woah, I wasn't expecting that….I wasn't expecting that at all" he said in shock, "thanks! I mean…this is really….god, this must've cost….wow."

She smiled and giggled, then scooted closer to him, and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Come here, Cruxshade. I want to tell you something." he pulled her closer to him, and laid down on the window sill. She looked shocked for a second, but then she put her head on his chest, and wrapped her arms around his torso. It was very quiet for a bit, while he pondered how to word it all.

"You are, the most….annoying woman that I've ever met." he said. She started laughing at this choice of words. "But, you are also the most amazing person I've ever seen. And…within the past year…I haven't needed someone like you more. Someone to bicker with, and someone that I could be a pompous ass to, without them pulling their wand on me. I guess, what I really want to say is, I think I love you, Lixella."

She shifted a bit, and slowly raised herself up. Her eyes met his and she reached her hand towards his face.

"I…I love you too, Draco" she said, leaning towards him. She leaned in and kissed him. It was a kiss just as passionate as the one from the kitchen, but she didn't pull away this time. It sent a shock of adrenaline through the both of them. He could feel the tears that had trickled down her face from earlier. She put her hand on his cheek, and pulled him in. They sat kissing for what seemed like hours. Neither of them wanting to stop. Her hands were moving through his platinum blond hair. His arms were trying to pull her closer to him.

They wanted all of each other, and neither of them was going to pull away this time.

The night seemed to go on forever. But, eventually, they fell asleep right there on the window sill. Both of them were holding onto the other, as if nothing could separate them. Truly, it was a Merry little Christmas morning.


I bet that window was pretty steamy after all of this XD

I'll try to make the next chapter shorter since the last few have been sooooo terrbily long!

thank you again, and I'll see you in chapter 18! Man, i should put this into novel form...it's long enough!