P A R A M O U R || George Weasley

29 || YULE BALL

Christmas day is an early morning for all people in the castle. It's the one thing most students do without discrimination of house or age. First-years and seventh-years alike search at the foot of their beds for gifts and sweets. Lyra Malfoy is awoken by the shakes of Patricia Stinson urging her to get up so her dorm mates can open the presents together. With a raspy 'I'm up,' Lyra opens the curtains around her bed, finding a modest pile of gifts by her trunk.

Seeing the blonde awake, Daphne instantly rips one of her gifts, squealing with excitement when she reveals a brand new pair of shoes for school. They aren't your typical black school shoes; they are patent leather that clearly shows her reflection and have chunky soles, almost like boots. It's bound to turn heads at school; they nearly break the dress code.

Gemma opens a box from the bed to her left and pulls a camera out. She had been asking for a camera for a long time, and her family, after much insistence, caved. Inside the box is everything she'll need to make it work, including the magical developing solution. She instantly captured a photo of Patricia and Daphne as the latter modeled the shoes around the room.

Lyra sluggishly grabs the first package she can reach from her pillows. It's a flat square box with a tag telling her it's directly from her father. Inside is a beautiful necklace made of diamonds and sapphires. It perfectly matches the dress she plans to wear for the Yule Ball tonight.

She picks it up and eagerly gets out of bed to look at herself in the mirror. The necklace lays at the base of her neck, hugging it beautifully. Still strutting around in her new shoes, Daphne looks at her through the mirror.

"It's stunning!" She exclaims, laying her hands on Lyra's shoulders. The blonde nods, picking her hair up to further admire it.

Different from what people might think, she rarely receives jewelry. Most pieces she has have been her mother's. Narcissa loves family heirlooms and has slowly passed a few to her daughter and her son. She also has an extensive jewelry collection since it's Lucius's favorite gift to her. He likes picking something special for his wife and the satisfaction that comes when she inevitably ends up loving it. Lyra will have to send Lucius a letter about the generous gift.

Tearing her eyes away from the necklace, she returns to her bed to open her other gifts. It varies from sweets to new clothes, school materials, makeup, beauty potions, and a new leather-bound journal. Narcissa got Lyra into journaling when she was young. It's a habit she lost over the years at Hogwarts. She briefly mentioned how she wished she could get back into it on her parents' visit. Sketched into the leather are protection runes that hide the journal's secrets from intruders.

With their gifts open, Daphne, Patricia, Gemma, and Lyra go for breakfast. Some wear their new presents, like Patricia with her new dark red sweater and Daphne with her new shoes, despite her not wearing her uniform. The shoes are versatile like that.

"Merry Christmas, everyone," Gemma chirps at the Slytherin table. Many reciprocate the gesture, feeling the Christmas spirit.

"How nice of you to wait for us," Daphne says sarcastically as most of them finished breakfast.

"We wait for you; we would have starved to death," Adrian scoffs, siping his pumpkin juice.

"That would've been ideal," Daphne replies with a sickly sweet smile.

Lately, Daphne and Adrian have been bickering nonstop. They like each other; it's probably why they act this way. Lyra, who sits between the two of them, quickly regrets it. She wishes they would just make out and be done with it. Draco comes along and drags her to the end of the Slytherin table as they continue to argue. Quietly he slides a gift across the table.