Broken: a Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter 14 - Dark Christmas

Alexia awoke on Christmas morning to find a stack of presents at the foot if her bed. She got up and opened the curtains of the bedroom window, letting the morning light stream into her room. The beautiful and soft snow outside, was drifting elegantly down from the sky, and settling on the ground.

Alexia sorted through her presents, and sat cross-legged on the bed to open them. The first present she opened was a wrapped box with Eva's handwriting on it. She tore off the green and red paper which revealed a box of sugared butterfly wings, one of Alexia's favourite chocolates which were small and butterfly shaped, coated in light pink sugar and coconut, and they melted in your mouth. Her present from Daphne was a book entitled Fine Fashion for the Stylish Witch, which had superb, moving illustrations of witches modeling different types of fashions. Surprisingly Blaise had sent her a box of toffees with a Christmas card attached with a brief yet sincere message inside. Alexia tossed this to the side; buying her forgiveness was never going to work.

After opening several more presents from family and friends, Alexia reached the last present. It was a tiny box wrapped in silver paper and decorated with a silver ribbon. She opened the Christmas card and read the message:

Dear Alexia,

Merry Christmas!

Never forget who you are.

From Draco x

Alexia unwrapped the present and took the lid off the small box. Inside was a silver ring. She gently took it out and took a closer look at it. It looked just like a plain ring with no jewel or anything fancy, but engraved around the outside were the three words cunning, ambitious and resourceful. Three of the Slytherin traits. Alexia was about to put the ring on, when she realised her name was engraved on the inside of the ring.

Alexia smiled and admired the shiny, silver ring on her dainty finger, then got up and headed down to greet her mother for breakfast.

"Good morning Mother!" Alexia called as she entered the dining room and came face to face with a huge table filled with food.

"Good morning Alexia! Merry Christmas, darling," Laurel said, walking over to Alexia and kissing her on the cheek.

"Thanks Mother, you too." Alexia replied.

Christmas morning was one of the only mornings Laurel thought it was acceptable to wear their nightgowns and pajamas to breakfast. It had become a tradition for them to enjoy a large and luxurious breakfast before visiting Azkaban and then returning home for a Christmas dinner.

"Oh yes, I have a present for you. Here," Laurel said, taking a wrapped box from the table and handing it to Alexia.

Alexia took the present and unwrapped it. She opened the lid of the box and found a new pair of beautiful, sparkling heels.

"For the Ball," Laurel said.

"They're beautiful!" Alexia gasped. "Thank you so much Mother."

"You're very welcome, Alexia. If they don't suit your dress, you're welcome to swap them for a new pair."

Once Alexia and Laurel had exchanged their other gifts, they took their spots at the dining table and began eating breakfast. There were pastries, a huge fruit platter, toasted bread, different types of jams, cream, coffee and a selection of breakfast teas. It was way too much food for the two of them, but that was what they were used too. When they had eaten as much as they could, the food magically disappeared from the table and Alexia excused herself to get dressed for the day.

Alexia dressed in a pair of black jeans, a soft black shirt and a military styled grey coat with a faux fur trim around the hood. When she entered her ensuite to do her hair and makeup, she immediately was hit by the lavishly lush scent of peach, cherry blossom and white jasmine. Alexia had completely forgotten that over the semester she had been secretly brewing her own fragrance in her bathroom. Alexia had asked Belly the house elf to keep an eye on it, as well as keeping it a secret from her mother as she knew she wouldn't approve of having her brew a potion at home and would probably tip it down the sink.