December Twenty-Fifth, 1943

It was certainly Christmas that morning at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Outside of her window in the dorm, the lake had almost frozen over and the only sign of the mer-people below the murky surface were the occasional air bubbles that floated up from the depths.

Snow fell gently outside and covered the school grounds in a white blanket. In the Slytherin dorms, some Christmas-themed decorations had been hung up and a small Santa Claus marched back and forth on the bedside table. 

In the bed next to Arabella's, Jaelyn lay, hands folded behind her head, eyes open, smile wide.

 "I love Christmas," Jaelyn said and sat up. She pulled Arabella's covers off and danced around the room, using the sheets as a cape. "You can forget everything and be happy, for only one day." 

Arabella frowned and reached over to Jaelyn's bed, picking her duvet off the bed and wrapping it around her own shoulders. "Sure." 

Jaelyn frowned and grabbed Arabella's hand gently. "I know it's hard," Jaelyn said softly, "but the pain will go away eventually." 

Arabella fell back onto her bed and sighed. "Sure." 

The two girls were motionless for a few minutes, both thinking about different things, yet the sombre mood dropped heavily on both their shoulders. 

"Let's go to breakfast."

A moment passed before Arabella sat up begrudgingly and slipped her feet into a pair of green slippers. "Sure." 

Jaelyn grabbed Arabella's hand and held it tightly the entire way up to the Great Hall. 

Once they got into the hall and sat down, Jaelyn put two pieces of toast onto Arabella's place and glared at her until Arabella reluctantly began buttering it. When she moved onto the jam, Jaelyn beamed brightly and patted Arabella's shoulder. "Good job." 

Arabella grunted and just continued silently attacking the toast. 

Edmund soon snuck into the seat next to Arabella, the smell of coconut and lemon wafted around her- Edmund had just washed. He drew his arms around her waist and pulled her into his chest. Arabella stilled and froze suddenly, his touch blistering hot. 

"Oh 'Bella," Edmund said, thinking she froze from sadness. "How are you today?" 

Arabella worked to loosen up and turned to face Edmund, her hands reached up and caressed his face with trembling fingers. "I'm fine." 

Edmund frowned and his lips pursed disbelievingly. He didn't push the subject even further. Jaelyn however...

"Is that why you attacked the toast this morning?" 

Arabella smiled slightly and whacked her friend on the shoulder. 

"Hey, hey!" Jaelyn said laughing. She watched Arabella carefully and smiled. "It's good to see you smiling again." 

After that, breakfast was silent, apart from the scraping of silverware and chewing. Before long, Arabella knew it was time to head off back to the dorms to sit by the fire and celebrate with the rest of the Slytherins. 

"See you later, Ed," Arabella said softly and he kissed her forehead in response before grabbing his bag and rushing off to who knew where. 

"Oh!" Jaelyn gasped and began rummaging around in her bag. "I forgot! I have to give you your gift before we go." 

In frustration, Jaelyn brought out her wand. A small package came whizzing up and the blonde caught it with a flourish. She passed it over and Arabella took it tentatively in her hand. 

"I didn't get you anything-" 

Jaelyn shushed Arabella and kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry about it Ara, I'll see you in a bit. I have to go talk with Dippet." 

As she was walking to the common rooms, Arabella opened the gift. The paper crunched loudly and Arabella stuffed it quickly in her bag. 

It was a small black box with a green lining running across the top in an intricate S. Arabella passed her thumb over the velvet smiling fondly and then opened the box to reveal a beautiful, shining ring. 

It was small and delicate- there was no way it would fit on her finger. But it was still beautiful. An array of small emeralds were set in the centre, surrounded by coils of silver. Arabella cursed Jaelyn for the gift, knowing how expensive it probably was, but she closed her fist around the ring tightly and kissed her knuckles. 

Smiling softly, Arabella entered the large room and sat down next to Tarinth Box who looked over and opened his mouth as though he was going to say something, then he closed his mouth and stared at the floor. Arabella's smile dulled and fell away, knowing what Box was going to ask. 

All anyone had done that past couple of days was ask how she was or check in on her. She didn't know why they all needed to know so badly! Her family was dead! She obviously wasn't going to be running around Hogwarts throwing hearts and love around. No, when people asked, it was a selfish question. They just wanted to make themselves feel important by pretending to care. 

The door of the common room swung open again and Professor Vector, the Arithmancy teacher waltzed inside. "I hope you are ready for today students, we have a very special elective coming up tonight.

"Go on then, Professor!" someone yelled from the back. Arabella turned around and saw Stefan standing on a table with his hands cupped around his mouth. "Tell us what it is!"

Professor Vector frowned. "Get off that table, Malfoy, and then I'll think about telling your house!" 

Grinning, Stefan jumped down, his loose shirt fluttering up around him. He walked over to Tom and his friends who were sitting on the couches by the green fire that burned brightly. Tom, Stefan and two others were all that remained of the group, the others had gone home for Christmas. The only reason Jaelyn hadn't gone home that year was that she chose to stay with Arabella. She had told her not to feel bad about it, Christmas at Hogwarts would be fun. Arabella had snorted. 

All the students around Arabella were buzzing with excitement and were watching Vector carefully, with anticipation in their eyes. For Arabella however, her parent's death still hung over her like a cloud and she couldn't bring herself to feel excited about this mysterious elective. 

Vector clapped her hands together and over the top of the chatting students she declared. "Students! In the midst of all the horrible things that have occurred this year, Headmaster Dippet has allowed us to throw a Christmas Ball! You can come alone or with a date, just be prepared to dance! Merry Christmas!" 

The Slytherin Common Room almost exploded with the nose the students generated. The glass kept them from being flooded by the water of the lake seemed to shake and Arabella covered her ears with her hands. 

After a moment, she saw someone approach her. It was Tom. 

"You'll be going with Luca, then," he said, taking a sip of a bubbling drink. 

"Bit early in the morning for that isn't it?" Arabella asked, pointing at the goblet, dismissing Tom's question completely. 

Tom shrugged and sat down on the couch next to Arabella. She shuffled further into the corner of it- Tom to his credit didn't seem offended. 

"It's a shame," he continued, "because I happen to have the best tie to wear. It would go brilliantly with your eyes." 

"I'm sure," Arabella drawled. "Well, I guess you'll have to wear a different tie then." 

Tom turned his head and just looked at Arabella for a moment. His gaze seemed to burn her skin and she shuffled on the couch awkwardly. Then he coughed and took another sip of his Firewhiskey. "I'm deeply sorry about your family despite their- ah- limitations." 

Arabella frowned slightly and nodded in a brief thanks. 

"Who did it?" Tom asked, "wizards?" 

"Nah," Arabella said, "muggles. Nothing but muggles." Even Arabella was surprised at the amount of venom that coated her words. 

"Ah." Tom stood up and brushed off his pants. "Well, I'll be seeing you at the ball tonight Arabella. Don't forget about what I said."

Arabella went to dismiss it but found the words got stuck in her throat. Instead, she just waved as Tom walked back over to his friends. 

Later that day as Arabella was walking about various passages, Edmund came running up to her, out of breath. "I've been looking for you everywhere!" He gasped. 

He held out a beautiful corsage and said, "will you be my date to the ball tonight?" 

Arabella smiled softly and pushed the corsage back to Edmund. His face fell, thinking she was declinging him. 

"Of course, Ed!" Arabella said, and Edmund's smile grew back, blooming bigger than ever. "But you're not supposed to give the girl the corsage until the night." 

"Oh," said Edmund, blushing deeply. "Right. Well, um, well, I'll see you tonight then." 

"Yeah," Arabella answered, almost giggling. "See you later." 

Edmund kissed her softly before running off again, punching the air as he went. A couple of Hufflepuffs glanced at him strangely. 

Arabella's smile dropped and she stared into the distance through the bridge pillars. The sun was high in the sky, snow was falling heavily onto the ground, creating a cold blanket of white. Arabella clutched her coat to her body tighter and sighed deeply. 

Muggles, she thought, cold-blooded killers. How could anyone without an ounce of magic in their veins do something so horrifically violent? 

It just didn't seem real.