Christmas came all to slowly as each day, I avoided any contact with Alexis, if that was her real name. the only place I couldn't avoid her was my own room where my parents had insisted she stay. And at this point, she was forcing herself to stay up later then my parents and wake earlier to assure that they wouldn't know she had actually been sleeping on the couch downstairs.

At first I considered offering her the room as I took a different place, but I couldn't force myself to do it. It was true, I had been raised with chivalry and honour, but I was still a teenage boy, I still had needs and moods all the same.

All the while I had been shut in my room hiding, I had gone over how to feed the Lolly Luck to Alexis without her finding out, and where would I find out what I needed to.

We were being requested to get ready now for the party, as time was running out and we were asked to make an entrance as a couple for the guests after everyone had returned as we were now the hot topic of my mother's middle aged friends. Apparently, they had known everything about us for a while now.

Mum had taken her a while ago now, getting her ready and presentable for the Wood family presentation of pride and honour. It would be a touchy process, but Alexis would survive should my mother keep her company through her time in there preparing.

In what felt like minutes, I heard the doorbell ring and the first of many guests enter my house.

Sure enough, half an hour later of waiting, my mother tapped on the door and opened it, "Oliver, it is your time to come now." she smiled as I stood and lead her towards the stairs where I saw the back of a dress and an oddly familiar body.

As she turned on me, time seemed to slow down as I met her eyes, then let my own trail over her body. She was wearing a short cocktail dress, purple with black accents and black under layers. It sat perfectly strapless with a ribbon of black silk rapped around her midsection. Accompanied by a pair of tall black heels with her hair pulled up into a messy bun. Glitter sparkling throughout her hair as she starred back at me with smoky eyes and gleaming lips.

"Oliver… snap out of it. You've got to walk her down when I give you the queue." my mother couldn't help but grin fanatically as I shook my head and mentally cursed myself. I could not, correction, would not fall for this girl here before me no matter who she was. For all I knew so far, she was nothing but a rotten liar.

At the top of the large staircase, I stepped forward and held my arm out to properly escort my date down to the main ballroom. Suddenly, mother's shrill voice called throughout the room as she tapped her wine glass with a foreign knife she must have picked on the way up.

"May I have your attention ladies and gentleman. It is my honour to present my son Oliver Wood, escorting the lovely Alexis McKenzie." she smiled as I took a step forward and pulled the girl latched onto my arm with me as we slowly descended down the steps to the faint murmur of guests and the quiet thunder of applause.

Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, I continued to present Alexis as I had done with few dates before her. "And now, we shall being the ceremonial Christmas dance. If those who are willing will pair up, we will begin the music momentarily." mum added as I felt Alexis tense by my side. There was no way I was going to ask her to dance.

So leading her over to a distant table, I watched as the music began and turned to look for a few seconds to watch the look on longing pass over her decorated features. I had to admit, she looked unbelievable attractive tonight and should anyone other then myself see her, there would have been no doubt they would swoon over her immediately.

I turned back to the dance floor to see my mother glare hard at me before gesturing her head towards Alexis as I shook my head no instantly. With a hard sigh, she turned back to my father as I peered out the window to my left.

"Excuse me miss. But may I have the privilege of the first dance?" I heard a voice beside me ask as I turned to face another tall boy around my age. We would be almost the exact same size, only he stood with shaggy blond hair and electric blue eyes.

With a sigh, I could feel Alexis' gaze shift to me and pause for a moment before she shook her head. She waited as if quietly asking my permission, and if anything, this girl looked for anything other then my opinion when the time came. As she silently stood up and followed the boy out to the dance floor, I could hear him whisper in a soft voice, "And you have enchanting eyes miss, if I might add."

Her face was angled in a direction in which I could not see her reaction as he turned her and they began to sway to the music. Bile rose in my throat and as hard as I tried to push the feeling away, something within gave a steady lurch as jealously hit me like an infected virus.

Anger pulsed through my body, as I tried to shift my thoughts far enough away from Alexis that the idea of her encased in another man's arms looking like she did. With a sudden jerk, I stood from my seat and approached the couple, channelling all my energy on not sounding hostile, but leaving the warning in my voice.

"Might I be so bold as to cut in?" I masked my anger politely as the blond boy simple took a step back and kissed her hand before placing it in my awaiting hand.

The music changed as it picked up only a few beats of rhythmic speed, enough to mask out our voices to other couples as few remained on the dance floor. "Did you enjoy yourself?" I asked as she refused to look me in the eye but continued to dance alongside me. More fury built as I stood and took in the silence of her words.

"I don't have to answer to you." she hissed after moments of silence between the two of us. Her violet eyes flaring with anger as she starred me down as the music was of constant reminder we were not in a private place and would have to keep our voices low.

"You're my mistress. I have a right to know." I countered as her body stiffened as she turned her head away from mine.

"You never even made a move to stop me." she through back as the music ended and we stepped away from each other.

"You wouldn't have wanted me to." I hissed before pulling her around for another dance as the music started again.

"That doesn't make a difference. The hole point of this was because your mother insist that your first dance be with the date you had. Not sitting lonesome at a table." she snarled back as her eyes wandered the dance floor.

"How do you know?" I asked incredulously.

"Because your mother told me all about it. How she always imagined that her son would dance to the first song and sway along with the music with the girl of his dreams." she hissed as I scoffed at the last part. "When I reassured her it was least likely to happen she turned on me and stated that she only wanted her son to be happy. And that is the only reason I'm here."

"Oh really?" I asked incredulously as suddenly her raging eyes turned towards me with a glare. "Why would you do something like that for my mother?"

"Because I know exactly what it feels like to strive to bring someone else happiness. And your ruining it!"

"You don't know anything!" I countered, anger pooling as I looked back to her.

"That maybe so, but your mother does. And I hope you know that look of hurt and disappointment in her face when she saw me dancing…" shaking my head at her words, everything seemed subtle until she added the last part. "And it wasn't with you." she added vigorously as her eyes turned away quickly and the music stopped.

Sighing, I grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her away from the dance floor. Leading her over to the table, I watched as she turned back to watch the other couples continue. At that moment, I poured the vile of Lolly Luck into one of the cups as I shielded it with my body and then hid the vile once again.

Turning, I forced the glass into her hands and took one of my own. Within minutes, Alexis had downed half the glass and was slightly staggering as I stood for her support as we chatted amongst a few of the guests. Finally, when she finished the lot I ran over and told mum she wasn't feeling good and I was taking her up to bed.

After a hurried protest and a flurry of curses under her breath, I managed to carry Alexis up the stairs and place her on the couch in my room as I loosened my tie and removed my jacket then took off her shoes. "Feeling okay McKenzie?" I asked, my earlier jealousy still not tarnished in the heat of the night.

"I feel foggy." she muttered confused as I cut in immediately, not wanting to waist time as my anger still pooled over within, the fury white and hot, egging me on more and more.

"Good, it's working. Now down to business." I added as she turned to me with a confused look in her eyes. "What is your real name?" I asked as she shook her head in attempt to clear her thoughts before replying.

"My name is Brady." she mused as her eyes seemed to break for an instant before clouding back over.

"What's your last name?"

"I-I don't have one." she replied dully as I shook my head before moving on.

"Where are you from?"

"All over Ireland. I never stayed in one home for long." she sighed again.

"Why?"

"Because my parents and older brother were killed by death eaters and I had no living relatives."

"Who were those people you were talking about with Mac the other day?" I asked again. Surprisingly, Fred and George's potion was working very well. She was foggy and dazed, but she answered each question with little to no hesitation.

"The first to take me in and my longest living friends."

"On the first day you met me, when you said you had been through this all before… what did you mean?" I asked suddenly as even in this confused state, she looked hurt and taken aback by the question, but was forced to answer anyways.

"Two years ago I was informed I would half to be married to a boy I didn't know by my sixteenth birthday. When my foster parents and his parents had a charm put on us to make us forever loyal and loving towards each other. We panicked. He slept with the next girl he saw and it tore at our bond together. When he began to die off, the charm had to be taken off. And when I got sick because of the after affect of his actions, my sickness only doubled to his." I sat curious as to how she managed to speak this much without slurring or becoming confused.

"Our bodies and minds had become so use to the bond, we hadn't time to fully retreat and wean ourselves away from each other before he died. I was cut off from my friends of his family as I reminded them of their dead son. As I reminded them of the child who wouldn't, couldn't marry their only son. That's how I know things don't last forever, that's how I know that what you feel or will feel is not true love. It is a mask. For in true love, both partners much love each other equally… but I have no heart to offer. It died the same day Dustin did." her sat unmoving as her eyes iced over.

"Why do you dislike me?" I asked more quietly, cautious of her statement to follow.

"You expect me to fall head over heels for you because you think I belong to you. But I don't. Just because I'm suppose to be your mate, doesn't mean I have to like it and you make it all the more difficult to live with. I just want my life back, to be free. And now… I don't have that anymore." she murmured as I looked to her again.

"Why do you think I'm taking away your freedom? Why do you blame me for that?"

"Because I don't even feel a connection. The day we fought in the halls, you made them believe we were suppose to be together and now I cannot leave without being tracked down and brought back. When a veela mates, the other has no say anymore. The laws that bind them together bind them by past laws. Such as the male having the upper hand." she smirked and shook her head. "Look at me Oliver, I can hardly fiend you off without the bond, now I can't possible stand against you. We can't be away from each other without being hassled and now, I have to leave everything I've built for myself to spend my life with you. And I don't even known if it will work out this time either." she sighed as I looked to her cautiously once again.

"Okay, what's your deepest secret?" it was low, and it was taking advantage of the situation, but it bugged me. And perhaps this would change things.

Shaking her head, not anger or sorrow passed her face, but pity. Weather it be for herself or me, I didn't know but it was unnerving and irritating. With a slow movement at first, she silently stood from her seat and walked across the room, bending down to retrieve something small from her bag before returning.

With a hard sigh, she set another small vile down on the table beside her and looked at it sorrowfully now. "What is it?" I asked confused as to what it was supposed to do. It was an empty vile, not something common, but also not something out of the ordinary.

"It's an anti-potion. For the next 24 hours after you take it, potions will fail to work on you." she stated in a calm and collected manor as I turned to her suddenly. "I took it this morning." she added as everything within me exploded.

"Wh…" before I could continue, she spoke.

"I always took you for a jerk Wood. But never a backstabbing jerk." she hesitated before standing from her seat.

"You wouldn't have told me-"

"Because you didn't need to know those things. God dammit Wood, I thought you would be the last person to take advantage of a drinking girl. Especially with a toxin so strong."

"If you knew… why did you go along with it?"

"Because Wood, if that hadn't of worked, you would have tried again." she sighed after a moment of silence.

"The things I told you were things that I have never told anyone before. Things only I could entrust within myself. But I figured if you were that desperate, if you were that selfish and low, perhaps it was best to tell you. Just because you saw fit to know such things. But the facts will do you no good." she stated before walking towards the door and grabbing her duffel bag as she went along.

"Where are you going?" I asked as she continued.

Stopping before the door, she merely turned her head slightly and took a deep and unneeded breath.

"I'm going home Wood. I don't want or need to be here any longer. I'm going to salvage what I have left of the holiday and spend it with people who will take what I'm willing to give them and nothing more. Merry Christmas."

And with that, she opened the door to leave, but not before stopping once more.

"I meant it when I said Dustin died with my heart in his clutches. For young love never goes forgotten." she paused for another few seconds before continuing. "And for my freedom… I will leave you any given day." and with that, she walked in all her glory out the door of my room, and possibly out of my life.

Leaving me with the most heart wrenching factor of all.

Everything felt empty without her here.

Let me know what you think! I'm curious if I had the right effect at the ending, did it make you want to read more?

Thanks!

-IGD