Desolation Row | A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 7

"Ophelia, wake up, it's Christmas!!" screeched Edward as he jumped up and down on my bed. 
Blearily, I opened my eyes and smiled at my little brother. 
"M-merry Chris-christmas, E-ed-edward." I smiled, sitting up. 
"Draco's outside, can he come in?" asked Edward earnestly. 
"Of c-course Draco c-can c-come in."
Edward scurried from the room and I heard his soft voice say something to Draco before he scampered off down the hall, no doubt back to his sister. Draco sidled into the room, already dressed, and shut the door behind him.
"Merry Christmas, Lia," he said, enveloping me in a warm hug that I gratefully accepted and returned.
"M-merry Chris-Christmas, Draco." I smiled warmly at him, although I was still thinking about Draco and his task, hoping that the day ahead might distract me from my thoughts. 
"Kids!" called my father from downstairs. "Do you want breakfast?"
A thundering of footsteps could be heard outside my room as Edward ran down the stairs, followed by Madeleine and then Llewellyn. I climbed out of bed and pulled on a jacket over my pyjama shirt.   
"Nice!" joked Draco, gesturing to the reindeers adorning my leggings. "Festive!"
"Sh-shut u-up, Malfoy!" I laughed.
"I'm being serious! I love them!"
We laughed together as Draco opened my bedroom door. 
"Ladies first."
When we joined my family downstairs, everyone was already eating all manner of different foods. On Christmas morning we were all allowed to choose our own breakfast, my father would cook us anything, so my siblings were both eating completely different meals to each other, and to Llewellyn. 
"What would you guys like?" asked my father and I shook my head. 
"G-go and s-sit d-down, D-dad, Draco a-and I c-can m-make our o-own, we-we're old en-enough."
Gratefully, my father nodded, smiling at us, and took his plate of food, going to sit on the armchair next to the sofa where Madeleine was sat with Llewellyn.
"Wh-what would you l-like?" I asked Draco and he pondered my question for a second before answering.
"Crepes?" he asked, checking that such a meal wouldn't be too much effort.
"S-sounds l-like a g-good id-idea."
A few minutes later, Draco and I were both sat together on the sofa opposite the one Madeleine and Llewellyn had claimed, my legs tucked up underneath me, and we were both ploughing silently through our pancakes. Edward had finished and was currently sat in the middle of the living room floor, playing with a stress toy I had made him for his birthday in September, twirling the toy expertly through his deft fingers as the rest of us ate our breakfast. When I had eaten, I took Draco's plate and my own into the kitchen before making my way around everyone, giving them all a hug (even Llewellyn) and wishing them all a 'Merry Christmas'.
"Oh no!" whined Edward sadly as the stress toy in his hand broke. "I broke it! I'm so sorry, Ophelia! You spent so long making me this!"
"D-don't worry, Ed-Edward. H-hey, maybe now is a-a g-good ti-time to op-open pres-presents."
My father nodded and he looked at Edward.
"Do you and your sister want to be elves?"
"Yes please!" chorused Edward and Madeleine at the same time before jumping up and crawling under the large Christmas tree we had up in the corner of the room.
My family didn't do Christmas by halves and our tree clearly showed this as its peak brushed against our high ceiling easily and its powerful branches encroached on the space of the living room. The 8ft tree itself was impressive but it was nothing compared to the decorations adorning it. Glistening red and silver baubles, beautiful crystal white lights and a fluttering angel sat at the top. Her gorgeous white dress flowed down over her feet as she sat, singing Christmas songs softly to herself, on the top of our tree, fluttering her wings elegantly. Sometimes, if we were lucky, we'd come downstairs and catch her dancing, spinning expertly on pointed toes at the peak of our tree. 
"This one is for Ophelia, from Draco!" called Madeleine, scurrying up to me with a present she had fished from under the tree and depositing it on my lap. 
"And this one is for Draco, from Ophelia!" Edward ran towards him and copied the actions of his sister, just as Buchanan showed his handsome face and came to curl himself around my legs as a way of greeting. 
"Llewellyn, from me!" crowed my sister.
"Maddie, from Llewellyn!" mimicked my brother.
Madeleine handed her boyfriend his first present and he smiled warmly in return while Edward placed his sister's present next to Llewellyn (Buchanan had since jumped onto my lap and I had to move my present to the arm of the sofa). 
"It's mine, from Ophelia!" cried Edward excitedly as he placed his present next to him.
"And this one is for Dad, from me and Eddie!" Madeleine gave our father his present and we all smiled warmly at each other.  
"Guests first." my father announced, turning to face Llewellyn who smiled and gently ripped the paper concealing his present.
A canvas lay upside-down across his lap as my father took the wrapping paper from him. Gently, Llewellyn lifted up the canvas, turning it over and gasping.
"Lainie, it's lovely!" sang his Welsh accent and Madeleine glowed with praise and pride.
She had painted a lovely landscape of Hogsmeade, blanketed with snow and with flecks still falling in flurries. The main feature was the front of the Three Broomsticks, warm fire lighting the inside of the pub and giving out an orange glow to the dimming street outside. Sat at the window were two figures, painted so intricately that it was obvious who they were. The painted versions Madeleine and Llewellyn sat together, enjoying a butterbeer each and holding hands over the table, laughing together, moving as all magical art did. Madeleine's cheeks grew red as Llewellyn showed everyone the lovely piece of artwork he had received. We all praised Madeleine before Llewellyn leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, thanking her again. 
"Draco?" asked my father. "Would you like to go next?"
Nodding, Draco lifted the present (which was really two presents, one present with a smaller one tied to the top with a ribbon) from his lap and grinned at me, bring it up to his ear and shaking it lightly. 
"I wonder..." he grinned and pulled the ribbon off, freeing the little box from the top of the big one. "Big or small?"
I looked at them both before pointing to the big one.
"Th-that one."
Nodding, Draco put the small one to the side and picked up the larger one, flipping it over in order to get to the tape. He pulled the ribbon off and I took the wrapping paper from him, throwing it to the floor where Buchanan was playing with the piece from Llewellyn's present, clearly having decided my lap was no longer comfortable enough for him. With a large grin, Draco turned to face me, chocolate frog in hand.
"Thank you, Lia."
I grinned.
"Y-you'll l-like the n-next one m-more."
With a smile, Draco put his chocolate frog on the coffee table to the left of the sofa and picked up the smaller present. He ripped the paper off of it and handed it to Buchanan who was waiting patiently on the floor by his feet and took it in his mouth like a dog. In Draco's hand now sat a small black box and he looked at it for a moment before pulling the lid off and taking out what was inside. It was a metal brooch, cast in the shape of a snake. Draco smiled and ran his fingers over the intricately carved scales on the serpent's back.
"Lia, this is gorgeous, thank you so much!"
Draco pulled me into a tight hug before whispering in my ear,
"Honestly, Ophelia, you're so sweet. I don't deserve you."
I smiled at Draco as Edward rose to see the brooch. My present to Draco was passed around the room with many sounds of admiration coming from people before my father turned to Madeleine.
"Your turn."
Madeleine grinned excitedly at Llewellyn as she picked up her present and Draco's brooch was handed back to him - he pinned it to his t-shirt.   
Madeleine's present was long and thin, also a box, by the looks of things, and she seemed to know what it was before even opening it.
"L, you didn't have to!"
"No, Lainie, I did."
After pulling the wrapping paper off and taking the lid from the box, Madeleine gingerly pulled a delicately thin chain from the box with an opulent sapphire dangling from it.
"I-it's gor-gorgeous!" I crowed as Madeleine held it up, allowing the glimmering jewel to catch the rays of winter sunlight streaming through the window.
"I pointed it out to Llewellyn ages ago, the first time we went to Hogsmeade together in fact and I just... he..."
Madeleine was clearly lost for words.
"P-put it o-on, M-madeleine." I coaxed.
Madeleine turned to Llewellyn who took the necklace in his hands and gently clipped it around his girlfriend's neck.
"Gorgeous." he breathed, tucking a strand of hair behind her hair with a smile.
"Edward?" my father tempted and my brother picked up his present.
Pulling it open, Edward looked at me, ecstatically.
"A new stress toy?! Thank you so much, Ophelia!"
I grinned, hugging my brother as he ran into my arms. I had known that it was likely Edward would break his stress toy (accidentally of course) around Christmas and even if he didn't, I knew he would appreciate another. I made sure that every toy I crafted for him worked on a different area of his mind, meaning he would never grow bored of them.  
"Y-you're wel-welcome, Ed-Edward."
It was my turn after my brother's and Draco gave me a dashing grin as I picked up my present.
"I hope you like it, Lia, I wasn't sure if you would. I think you will."
"I b-bet I w-will, Draco." I smiled at him and he smiled back, gesturing to my present.
I pulled off the paper and went to place it next to me before Buchanan mewed in annoyance.
"S-sorry, B-buck." I chuckled, dropping the paper to the floor.
A small white box was sat in my palm, just waiting to be opened. I lifted the hinged lid and gasped at what was inside. Perched daintily on a black, velvet cushion was a gold ring in the shape of a winding serpent. Encrusted on the snake's head was a glimmering ruby and all along its serpentine body were floridly engraved scales. I slipped it onto my middle finger on my right hand where it fit perfectly.
"Draco, oh m-my good-goodness! I l-love it!" I squealed, throwing my arms around him and whispering to him,
"Wh-what d-did I ev-ever do t-to des-deserve you?"
With a smile, Draco pulled away and we all turned to look at my father who was sat with his present still in his lap.
"Go on Dad! Open it!" said Madeleine. "Ophelia helped us a lot with it."
We all watched silently as our father unwrapped his present. A slightly misshapen, warm-looking, woolen scarf pooled into his lap from the paper and he lifted it up.
"Guys, this is lovely!" he beamed, wrapping it around his neck.
"Ophelia knitted it with us!" grinned Edward, clearly happy that our father like it.
     Almost an hour later, everyone had opened their presents.
Draco had been given: a small mountain of chocolate, a book of advanced potions and one of advanced charms, another chocolate frog, and some cards, from the twins, my father, Narcissa Malfoy (she had flown her presents over by owl post) and Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle, respectively.
Madeleine had opened: some chocolate from Draco, a bracelet that I had handmade for her, a copy of Hogwarts: A History from her twin brother and a new 13", Ebony, Unicorn Hair wand from our father that they had bought together in Diagon Alley.
Edward had received similar gifts to his sister, such as an identical mass of chocolate from Draco, a full set of William Shakespeare's plays from his twin sister, some more chocolate from Llewellyn and a tawny owl from our father that he had named Octavius. Octavius was now soaring around our living room, hooting every few seconds, excited by the amount of attention he was getting.
Many of Llewellyn's presents had been delivered by owl from his family, like: a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them from his sister, Madeleine's friend, Deryn, a new 9", Hawthorn, Dragon Heartstring core wand from his parents, in addition to a pack of hand-painted playing cards and a new wizards' chess set from my father, a box of my own handmade fudge and some chocolate from Edward.
My father opened: chocolate from both Draco and Llewellyn and a jumper that I had knitted for him in Slytherin green with the silver Slytherin snake winding around a large letter 'W'.
After the rest of my family had opened their presents, I received: some chocolate from Llewellyn, cards from Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle and a brand new Firebolt Supreme from my father which was complimented by a Broomstick Servicing Kit from the twins.
Everyone was so happy that we almost forgot to open Buchanan's present. We had all contributed a little bit of money towards buying my cat a Christmas jumper.  It may have been an understatement to say he was not best pleased. We were all crying with laughter as Buchanan strutted about the living room, a large knitted reindeer adorning his back and his large eyes glaring at us all when he passed before he settled down with a dissatisfied grunt between the sheets of wrapping paper.
"Who wants to help cook lunch?" asked my father and a chorus of excited 'me's rang through the room as we all headed to the kitchen.
Christmas Day so far had done exactly as I'd hoped. I hadn't so much as thought about the fact that Draco had been tasked with murder, the murder of Albus Dumbledore no less, and that if he did not complete it, both he and Snape were sure to be killed; I hadn't so much as thought about the fact that at the end of our school year, we were going to be one less, if not two. 

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Hey guys!!

I hope you enjoy this chapter!! Nothing too dramatic today, just some domestic Avondales + Draco and Llewellyn. Please let me know if you're enjoying this book as I'm really enjoying writing it! Ophelia feels like a child of mine!!

Anyway, I hope everyone had/is having a lovely day and if you haven't already, please check out my instagram account: @slytherin_phoenix !!!

Thank you all for reading this chapter, I appreciate it a lot!! Please feel free to leave nay suggestions you may have down in the comments!!

I love you all, bye!!

- Izzy xx