BORN TO DIE ╱ DRACO MALFOY
꒷꒦ · ˚.‧ . written by ella . . . © -lostgardens
015 ━━━ ❛ hot chocolate and presents ❜

It was Christmas morning. The snow fell softly outside, adding to the white blanket that covered the ground. The fireplace downstairs was burning hot, and hot chocolate and snickerdoodles, charmed to stay warm and fresh, sat on the table in the sitting room. The house was quiet, except for the house elves working away in the kitchen, preparing breakfast.

Olivia was sprawled on her bed. She was calm or peaceful, though. She was tossing and turning. It was a little past five—a surprising time for her to be sleeping. Her hair clung to her forehead as she tossed and turned. Her face was twisted in pain, the nightmare clouding her mind.

Murmurs and whines fell from her mouth as the dream played out. She wanted it to stop, but she couldn't seem to wake up. She clung to Mr. Snake in her arms as she held onto him for dear life. Tommy was lying at her feet, sleeping soundly.

She needed to calm down. She needed to wake up. She wanted it to end.

Stop. Stop! It needed to stop!

"Olivia, wake up!" Lucas called out, standing on her bed. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" He chanted, jumping up and down on the bed. His voice and expression were full of happiness and excitement as he continued to jump on her bed.

Snapping her eyes open with a gasp, she sat up in her bed. Her sudden movement caused Lucas to lose his balance, sending him tumbling to the floor. The loud noise startled Tommy awake, and he jumped off the bed and ran off, passing the boy on the floor on his way out.

Looking around, she realized that she was in her room. She was in her room. She was in her room. That's what she kept repeating to herself, holding onto Mr. Snake even tighter.

"Ow," Lucas groaned.

She looked to the floor, only to find her brother. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she watched him sit up and rub the back of his head. "What are you doing down there?" she asked, removing her black duvet from over her legs.

He rolled his eyes. "I was jumping on your bed, trying to wake you up because it's Christmas morning, but then you woke up and I fell off," he explained, still rubbing the back of his head. After a moment, he stood up. He was still in his pajamas—black and gray plaid.

"Normally, people just shake someone when they're trying to wake them, not jump on their bed," she stated, getting up from her bed. She put Mr. Snake in her bed and rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah, I know. Remind me to never make that mistake again," he sighed, running a hand through his curls.

"Okay," she muttered with a nod, watching him head to the door. "Hey, Luke?"

He turned to face her with raised brows. "Yeah?"

"Never make that mistake again." She softly smiled, clasping her hands together in front of her.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Very funny," he retorted.

And after a moment, the two began laughing. "Come on," Olivia told him, wrapping her silk-clad arm around his shoulder and pulling him towards the doors. "We have presents to open." A bright smile took over her face.

They walked down the corridor, going to the stairs. They muttered "Happy Christmas" to many of the paintings on their way there and finally took a breath as they descended the stairs. The bright and cheerful decorations that they had set out caught their eyes as they walked to the sitting room.

Underneath the tall tree sat a ton of presents. Most of what they knew came from their parents—their way of keeping their children "happy" without actually being there to give them the presents. But some seemed to be from Olivia's friends—the wrapping paper was different from the others.

Lucas and Olivia sat down next to the tree and began searching through the gifts. All of the white and red striped boxes were from their parents; the white paper with glittery snowflakes ones were from Pansy, Thedore, and Blaise; the dark green ones were from Crabbe and Goyle—they must've been spending the holidays together; and the light blue ones with snowmen on them were from Daphne.

Olivia and Lucas sorted through each of them and put them in there respective piles. Once they were done with those, five presents remained. Two were from Lucas to Bobbin and Trinky; two were from Olivia to the two as well; but the last one neither knew who it was from nor who it was to.

Lucas picked it up. It was a small box, neatly wrapped in dark green wrapping paper. He read the tag, his brows furrowed. Then he snorted a laugh. He lazily handed the box to Olivia. "This one is from Malfoy to you," he snickered.

"What?" Olivia's face twisted in disgust as she took the box. It was, in fact, from Malfoy to her. If she were a normal person, she would've felt bad because she hadn't gotten him anything, but she wasn't a normal person. She rolled her eyes and set the box to the side.

Before she and Lucas could begin to tear open their presents, Bobbin and Trinky appeared in the room with a loud snap. "Bobbin and Trinky have made Miss Olivia and Mr. Lucas's favorite treats for Christmas morning!" Bobbin informed them, pointing to the tray that sat on the table.

"Trinky just came from the kitchen, and the others are getting breakfast ready for Miss Olivia and Mr. Lucas!" Trinky added, her eyes gleaming with happiness.

"Thank you." Olivia smiled. She glanced at her brother, giving him a knowing look. He nodded, and they both stood. They grabbed the presents for the house elves out from under the tree and walked over to them.

"Here you are," Lucas beamed as they both handed them their gifts.

Bobbin and Trinky looked up at them with wider eyes than they already had. Tears filled them as they looked at the two with gratitude.

Bobbin was the first to open her gifts. The wrapping was torn off, and a portrait of her and Trinky side-hugging each other while smiling caught her eye. She softly smiled and then opened Olivia's gift to her. She took the lid off of the box, and a charm bracelet came into view. The house elf took the bracelet out of the box and slipped it on her wrist.

Trinky opened her present from Olivia first, and there was another charm bracelet.

"They're matching—think of them as friendship bracelets," Olivia informed with a smile.

The house elf returned the smile, then moved onto Lucas's present. Another portrait is nearly identical to Bobbin's. Olivia was sure that Lucas just made two of the same so that each house elf could do what they wanted with them.

She had gotten them matching bracelets because she wanted them to have something they could share but keep separate. Her brother must have had the same idea.

"Do you like them?" Olivia asked, gesturing to the presents.

And in the blink of an eye, Bobbin and Trinky had their arms wrapped around the two, squeezing them together. The siblings lightly laughed and hugged them back. They stayed like them for a moment as Bobbin and Trinky sniffled and thanked them.

Finally, pulling away, Olivia and Lucas sent them small smiles and took a step back. Walking over to the table, they both grabbed a mug of hot chocolate and a cookie. The house elves snapped away, presumably going to the kitchen.

Moving back over to the tree with light steps, they sat down and ate their cookies. Olivia took a sip of her hot chocolate, eyeing her presents and trying to decide which to open first. She was curious as to what her parents had carelessly bought her that year—the new and trending things, no doubt.

She set her mug on the floor, out of the way, so that she wouldn't knock it over. She looked over at her brother, who was already looking at her. They softly smiled and then grabbed the first present.

He picked the biggest of his. She watched as he opened it. It was a new flying broom. He gleamed with excitement. He had such a love for flying and quidditch, and she couldn't wait until he took his first flying lesson at Hogwarts—hopefully he wouldn't have an overly eager boy tackling him for no reason.

She received her first present from her parents—some new books—and she was surprised that they weren't ones that she already had. She smiled softly, and then they both moved onto the next present.

After a few minutes, they were done opening the presents from their parents. Olivia got mostly books, some coats and sweaters, a broom that she knew she'd never use, so she gave it to her brother, and some study material. None of the gifts had any emotional meaning; they weren't picked out with care or love, just the thought of needing to get something for their children.

Lucas was a similar case. He got a broom, some art supplies—canvases, brushes, varying types of paints, and a new sketchbook—as well as some new shoes, sweaters, trousers, and the broom that Olivia got. Again, no love or thought was put into them, just knowledge of their surface-level interests.

Olivia opened the presents from her friends next.

Pansy's was up first—she got a sweater like on her birthday, except this one was a rather dark shade of black and something that she would actually wear, and she also got a black beret, which she wasn't sure how she felt about. Pansy always got her a charm for her bracelet—the one Lucas had gifted her for her birthday—which was half of a heart. She was sure Pansy had the other half.

Then she opened Theodore's—he got Olivia a couple of shirts, one of which read: I heart—a big red heart—Paris in big bold letters. He also got her an Eiffel Tower figurine, which said "Best Mom" on it. She wasn't sure why he thought those were the best gifts for her, but she got a laugh out of both.

Onto Blaise—he got her some silk pajamas, much like the ones she was wearing, and a very fancy chess set. The reminder of how he believed she had never played chess before that day in the common room and how shocked he and Theodore were at her 'natural abilities' came to mind.

She snorted a laugh, causing Lucas to furrow his brows. Lifting up the chess set, she said, "Blaise, one of my friends and the one who got me this, thinks I have only played chess once before. It was a whole thing—you had to be there for it to make sense."

Lucas nodded with a small smile. Looking back down, she missed how that smile faded and his eyes dropped to the floor.

She moved onto Daphne's gift, and as she suspected, the girl got her a book. But it wasn't just any book; it was a first-edition, signed copy of A History of Magic by Barthida Bagshot. She wondered how Daphne had gotten her hands on such a rarity.

Letting out a sigh, she moved onto the gift from Crabbe and Goyle. Tearing off the wrapping paper, she looked at the box suspiciously. She didn't know what to expect from the two boys—they hadn't gotten her anything for her birthday, not that they needed to, so she wasn't aware of their gift-picking skills.

It didn't matter, though; whatever they got her, she was just glad they thought of her.

Pulling off the lid, she waited for something to jump out at her or explode in her face, but nothing happened. Her eyes looked at what sat inside the box—it was a box full of different snacks and treats. She narrowed her eyes in confusion. It wasn't what she was expecting, but it was also everything she was expecting.

She snorted, setting the box off to the side. Looking at the last present she had, she sighed, not wanting to open it. Lucas scooted closer to her, preparing to look over her shoulder, curiousity filling his mind as well. She sent him a glance over her shoulder, then reached for the small box.

Pulling open the lid, she saw a necklace sitting inside. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and she rolled her eyes. When was he going to learn? She took the necklace out of the box and studied it. It was silver in the shape of a crescent moon and the Scorpio constellation, which were encrusted with topaz stones—her birthstone.

"It's beautiful." Lucas spoke her thoughts.

"Yeah," she agreed, her eyes not leaving the necklace that was in her hands.

"Are you going to put it on?" her brother asked.

"No," she replied, sticking the necklace back in the box.

Before he could say anything, Trinky reappeared. "Miss Olivia and Mr. Lucas, breakfast is ready," the house elf told them.

"Alright, thank you, Trinky." Olivia placed the lid back on the small box and put it with her other presents. Grabbing her hot chocolate from the floor, she stood up with Lucas standing beside her. "Uh, Trinky?" she spoke, causing the house elf to look at her with questioning eyes. "Have my gifts for my friends been sent out?"

"Oh, yes. Trinky and Bobbin made sure to do that first thing this morning for Miss Olivia!" She gleamed.

"Good." Olivia nodded. Walking over to the table, she set her mug back on the tray. "Shall we go eat breakfast?" she asked, looking at her brother.

"Yeah."

≀⋆⁺₊⋆ ꗃ 𖦹⨳✺

They sat at the breakfast table, eating the food that the house elves had prepared. A full breakfast sat in front of them—bacon, scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, buttered toast, sausage, black pudding, baked beans, bubble and squeak, and fresh fruit. The house elves had quite undone themselves, seeing as though it was just Olivia and Lucas sitting at the small, round breakfast table.

The table looked out into the garden that was in the backyard. It wasn't as visible as it would have been in the Spring or Summer months since their was a rather thick white blanket covering it. The snowfall was relaxing as Olivia ate.

It was quiet—Lucas wasn't speaking, she wasn't speaking, and Bobbin and Trinky were off doing something. Olivia didn't like the silence, but neither she nor her brother had any clue as to what to talk about.

She didn't want to bring up school, her friends' gifts to her, or anything else that might upset him. Though she didn't know if those topics would actually upset him or not,

Opening her mouth, she went to speak, but the sound of the door closing caught her attention. Her mouth fell shut as her brows furrowed. Turning her body so that she faced the entrance of the sitting area, she saw her parents walk in.

Confusion overtook her. They were supposed to be gone, not there. Why were they there?

"I see you two didn't wait on us," her mother said, glancing at the mess in the sitting room.

Olivia was planning on cleaning that up after breakfast.

Their parents walked over to the table. They were dressed in their winter clothes, which wasn't unusual; they looked serious, which also wasn't unusual; and they seemed as if they didn't want to be there, which, once again, wasn't unusual.

"Yes, we didn't think you would be here," Olivia replied, drawing out each word as her eyes narrowed at them.

"We weren't planning on it, but the trip ended earlier than we thought it would," Clodagh explained, taking off her black gloves.

She pulled out a chair for her to sit in next to Olivia as her husband pulled out the last seat in between hers and Lucas's. They both sat down, and two plates appeared in front of them.

Olivia watched them closely as they filled their plates with all of the food in front of them. They seemed calm, not cold and malicious. It was strange. She even could've sworn she heard her mother humming a tune, but the sound was so faint that she didn't know if she was hearing things or not.

The rest of breakfast was silent as they all ate. Olivia felt weird. She didn't know why her parents trip had ended early, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to know why. But once her plate was cleared, she excused herself from the table, preparing to clean up the mess in the sitting room.

As if she could read the girl's thoughts, Clodagh said, "Don't even bother with the mess, Olivia. Bobbin and Trinky will clean it." She waved her hand dismissively, and the two house elves appeared as if on command.

They rushed over to the mess of presents and began cleaning. Each present was sorted into two groups—Olivia's was sent up to her room, and Lucas's to his. The wrapping paper and empty boxes were snapped away, and the tray of mugs and cookies was sent to the kitchen, leaving the sitting room looking untouched.

Olivia followed her gifts up to her room, not wanting to be in the impending presence of her parents any longer. And soon after she reached her room, she heard footsteps walk past her door, and she assumed it was Lucas going to his room.

All of her new possessions sat on her bed, and before she could even reach them, Tommy jumped up and started examining them for himself. He sniffed each box and item as if they were hiding his food, but once he saw no value in them, he moved to the top of Olivia's bed, snuggled up next to Mr. Snake, and began to clean himself with a licked paw, rubbing the top of his head.

She shook her head at her cat, finding amusement in his actions. Then her focus went back to the gifts. She sorted through all of them, setting all of the clothes off to the side so that she could put them in her trunk to take back to Hogwarts.

She placed her "Best Mom" Eiffel Tower on her dresser to sit alongside a framed picture of her and Lucas. She put her beret, which she knew she'd probably never wear, with the clothing—she knew it would make Pansy happy if she brought it back to Hogwarts with her. She placed the book Daphne got her on one of the small shelves in her room that held her most prized books. The chess set was placed on her desk; she wasn't sure if she was going to lug it all the way back to Hogwarts or not.

The books that her parents got her were placed to the side so that she could put them in her library later. The broom came into view, and she planned on taking it to her brother when she gave him his gift. The box of treats and sweets that Crabbe and Goyle had so graciously given her was placed in her trunk, ready to be taken back to Hogwarts—there was no way she'd be able to eat all of them on her own.

And finally, the necklace. It was rather gorgeous, and to say that Malfoy had bad taste would be a straight-up lie. But she didn't want to like it; it was a gift from him. She did learn to look past that with Tommy, though.

Sighing, she placed the box in her trunk. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but for now, she wasn't going to wear it. She'd take it to school with her, and if she made up her mind, it would be there for her to wear or forget.

Feeling a bit better about having everything organized, she grabbed the broom from her bed and then left her room, heading down the hall for her brother's room. 

Knocking on the door, she heard him mutter for her to come in. She twisted the knob with her free hand and pushed the door open. He was lying on his bed, flipping through one of his books, as she walked in. Meeting her gaze, he sent her a small smile as he sat up on his bed and closed his book.

Setting his broom down next to his door, she made her way into the room and shut the door. She sat with him on his bed and said, "I want to give you your gift, but I want it to be a surprise, so you're going to have to come to my room."

He gave her a curious look. "Let me give you your gift first." He got up from his bed and walked over to his desk. He grabbed something. And when he faced his sister once more, she saw what looked like a book. Sitting back down, he muttered, "Here you go," handing her the book.

She studied it. It was a scrapbook—a homemade gift, something that was so common for Lucas to do. A smile broke on her face as she ran her fingers over the cover. Our Adventures. She opened the book and began browsing each page.

It was pictures of them together, some featuring Bobbin and Trinky, others not. Happiness filled her as she relived each memory, watching the moving pictures tell a story. She didn't even remember most of the pictures being taken, but maybe that was the fun of it—living in the moment and not paying attention to your surroundings.

Once she reached the end of the pictures, she looked up at her brother.

"I'll continue to add more as the years go on," he explained, pointing at the blank page she was on. And before he could say anymore, arms were wrapped around his neck, bringing him in for a tight hug.

"This is wonderful. Thank you," she muttered, hugging him tighter.

He returned the hug and hummed in response.

After that, they left his room and went to hers. She made him close his eyes as she opened the door and guided him in. And when he stood in front of her desk, she told him, "Alright, open your eyes."

And he did, only to be met with the sight of a Barred Owl sitting in a cage on her desk. He gleamed at her with wide eyes. She gave him a smile and nodded for him to step closer to the owl. He did so, and she explained, "I got this owl for you so that you can send me letters whenever you want and don't have to use the family owl."

"I love it so much! Thank you, Livvy!" He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, like she had him.

"Of course," she muttered, returning the hug. "What are you going to name him?"

He pulled away, looking at the owl. "Apollo, like the god."

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━━━━ ella's speaking !
last christmas break chapter of act one !!

i stayed up all night to write this, and tears were almost shed while trying to figure out the gifts lmfao

i really hope you enjoyed it!! and make sure to comment and vote

kisses.

━━━━━━━━━━ born to die,
© -LOSTGARDENS,          sep 2023

word count: 3960. written: 9.10.23. published: 9.11.23.