Haunted (Alastor X Reader)

Chapter 24

"Stop trying to move my hands away. I told you, no peaking."

You sighed and stopped trying to move his hands from out from your view, desperately trying not to trip and fall with him standing behind you.

"Can't you just tell me?" You asked with a soft chuckle.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise." He hummed, leaning down and kissing the top of your head. "Alright stop here. We're about to reach the stairs, so I'll be your eyes and talk you through it."

A couple weeks had gone by, now even closer to the holidays. Alastor had taken notice of your mood lately. He noticed that as the days went on, your good moods seemed diluted or just short-lived. He could see that deep down your spirits were in desperate need of lifting. He assumed it was hard for you around this time, that you probably missed your parents more than usual.

He wouldn't admit it out of worry of embarrassing you, but there were a couple nights where he woke up and could hear you crying. Almost inaudibly, but he could hear it. It ate him up inside, understanding what it was like to miss somebody like that. To understand that grief is something that never truly goes away.

Christmas wasn't really something he anticipated, however, while he was trying to think of ways to brighten up your days an idea had sprung into his head.

He had stayed up late last night decorating your house. He even went as so far as to acquire a tree beforehand, but he wanted to ask if you'd like to decorate it with him instead of just having him do it himself. It was rather early still, the sky outside dark; much thanks to the winter months holding much longer hours of darkness. It worked in Alastor's favor, seeing as it helped some of the lights that were strung up look even more dazzling. He just hoped you would like it.

He was so excited to show you what he had done, by the time you had begun to stir from your slumber he was already awake and looking at you the same way an eager child would. It was adorable, he lay next to you -alert with excitement- as he looked up at you with those mesmerizing eyes. Glowing with pure, unbridled joy. You were still groggy and trying to understand the universe all over again as you woke up, while Al was practically pulling you out of bed to see what he had done.

"Oh, careful dear." He said, quickly wrapping an arm around you to break your fall as you almost tripped on the last step. He made sure you were back and steady on your feet before letting go. "Ready?" He asked, his smile growing wider with anticipation as you reached the bottom of the steps.

"Ready." You smirked.

"And... open!"

You felt Al move his hand away as he stepped aside, and your still somewhat tired eyes opened to the site before you. What awaited you was a wonder to behold. In the kitchen and dining room the cabinets and shelves were decorated tree garlands and small wreaths, same for the living room. Completed with fairy lights that made everything look even more enchanting. On the fireplace were two stockings- one for you and another for Binx. To top it all off, next to an assortment of orange and purple ornaments there was a tall artificial tree in the corner of the living room that was black in color. As a matter of fact, he managed to match most of the decor with the rest of your interior design almost flawlessly. Instead of red and green, (save for the garlands), everything had an either black and white or a orange and purple color-scheme to it; especially the lights. It looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie, really. It was thoroughly impressive how well he managed to pull it off and make it blend together cohesively.

"Alastor..." you awed, holding your hand over your mouth as you felt tears of joy and gratitude welling up in your eyes.

"Is it to your liking, my dear?" He asked, taking a step closer and standing beside you.