Chapter Eight:
( a not-so happy christmas )

warning! acts of torture, burning, bruising.

▂✫⌒*･ﾟ

SPENCER SWALLOWS DEEPLY AS she prepares herself to see her perfect postured family. Her neck is wrapped with her Ravenclaw scarf, something she knows will make her parents stare at her in disgust for it not being Slytherin colors. She finds herself watching bitterly as Morgana struts her way to their parent's arms. Of course, the older girl does not hug them as she is too good for that, but she smirks wickedly at their bright eyes. Spencer does not see herself with the same enthusiasm and finds herself with trek steps. It confuses her to no end when a presence is felt beside her and she stops continuing in order to turn to the figure. She has come to be unsurprised that Blaise Zabini somehow finds a way to her. Instead, she glances at him questioningly.

"Didn't know you were going home," he comments in confusion, taking one look at the two parents who trap their eldest in a deathly hug.

Spencer shudders silently and sends him a false smile. "Last minute change of plans. By force, of course," she responds. Her eyes gazes at his face for a couple of seconds before she turns away. "See you later... Charles Darnay," Spencer salutes goodbye with a playful wink.

The Slytherin frowns— not at the name— but at the fact that once again she hid her own feelings and pretends to be fine. Then again, who is he to judge? He is practically the king of mastering such facade. And as she fades from his view, his lips only releases something that sounds like, "Later, Jo March."

The young Ravenclaw approaches her family with cautiousness. It is her father who first glances up and his lips place themselves thinly as he stares at her. His absolute silence causes his loving wife to separate from the Slytherin girl and an actual grimace appears in her face. Spencer clenches her jaw in annoyance and crosses her arms diligently. She is not going to try and please them anymore. No matter what happens, she will defy them like they have to her for years. Morgana gives her a smug look and it soon disappears as the younger Montague purposely hits her shoulder with her own as she stomps forward to leave already.

Morgana scowls, her forehead creasing in anger while throwing daggers at her sister's back. Even without staring at her, Spencer could already see her lips move to a threatening sentence that most likely had to do with "better watch it before I curse you indefinitely". Morgana never did her harm; at least not with magic or in front of their parents or others. She is a manipulative, cold-hearted bitch and she will continue to be so. Spencer finds herself staring at her two parents. When they notice their youngest looking at them, both of them turn away and began whispering to each other. How does a child end up being faithfully ignored and disliked by their parents? And why does it still hurt? Too many questions that even her own mind cannot answer.

Glorious Montague is beautiful despite the ugly personality. She has dark locks that eerily resemble her sister's hair. Spencer has a lighter shade of brown that is more like her father's than anything. Oliver Montague is a good-looking man as well with his chocolate eyes and chestnut-colored hair. He stands tall and serious at all times. Usually, the males are the ones who keep their family name and pass it down to their children, but it is Glorious that is the actual Montague and Spencer's father changed his to go with theirs. Odd, but not surprising as Glorious tends to be obsess with the family name. Either way, all of them are crazily stupid and bigotry. Despite the fact that her parents are not 'official' Deatheaters, that does not mean they disagree with Voldemort's point of view. If there is one thing the Montague family hates, it is to associate with muggles. Which is one of the reasons why Spencer barely has any muggle books at home and is stuck with reading only the educational matters about physics and whatnot. That or any magical book ever that they had around the huge manor.

No one talks to her, not even as they arrive to their awfully large manor. Not even to announce the fact that dinner is ready and Spencer just forces herself to leave her room at exactly six o'clock where everyone else has their own conversation and she is the black sheep. It is not even a day and the young Ravenclaw is already bored out of her mind. She always wonders how she could survive in the summer. Being in the same room as her own family annoys her to no end and she always envies the people that holds good relationships with their family. Letters from Ricky do not tend to arrive to the manor due to the fact that in her first year, Morgana purposely told their parents about a muggleborn sending her a letter and not only was the letter burn to ashes, but their mother sent Ricky a Howler in return. Since then, Spencer rarely ever sends him letters and she warned him not to as well unless she sends one first.

Upon realizing the silence that takes place during dinner, Spencer stares up from her unfinished meal and glances at her parents. She never understood why they always feel incredibly disappointed in her. Every time Morgana complains about her, they would instantly believe her and shut her out. Even when they were just kids. She forces herself to keep a blank expression (she hopes thinking of Zabini's usual look will help) and dares to make eye contact with her father and then her mother.

"Your sister has told us about your... misbehaving," Glorious Montague, in all of her glory, speaks up with distaste. Her lips are parted and her nose twitches upwards. Still, she manages to look beautiful in physical appearance. The woman places down her fork and pats herself to look more presentable. The usual table manners that she learned at the age of two. Back straight. Hands on the table. Head tilted straight ahead (this one Spencer avoided at all cost). All of them just eat with stiffness in their systems. Spencer stays silent while she waits for her mother to expect a response. "For that very reason, you will be cleaning dishes," Spencer forces herself not to roll her eyes at that one since she already does the dishes, "and you will not be allowed to wander to the owlery downstairs and you will not exit this house unless it is with your sister or one of us," her mother immediately gets straight to the point, her fingers crossing between her husband and herself.

Spencer gapes at her. "What?" She could not help but release in surprise and anger. Her head shakes in disagreement and she tries to argue, "Mother, that is not fair—"

"What is not fair is the fact that you continuously make your sister and your family look bad! I expect full disciplinary manners from you, young lady," Glorious cuts her off, her eyes shining red in rage. Her father stays silent and glances at his wife and then at Spencer. Morgana seems to be enjoying the scenery as she continues eating in peace, her eyes brightening in joy of her sister's misery.

The Ravenclaw scowls quietly to herself before scoffing, "Then why am I here?"

Glorious stares at her with a blank expression before slamming her hand on the table. "At least here we could all keep an eye on you. You think I don't know that in Hogwarts you have more freedom? Go to your room," she growls out.

Spencer turns to her father who had the audacity to look away. She clenches her jaw before standing up and storming out of their view. And as she left, the young girl hears them return to their casual conversations that never occurs with her. There is not like much to do in the manor— no matter how big it is. Spencer practically has done everything that could have excited her many ages ago. Especially during summer. Then again at least she had more liberty before. She would rather stay lock up in her room than have to go to the gardens with Morgana.

The young Montague hopes that the Weasleys and Harry are doing well. Hermione had told her that they had gone to St Mungo's the day they disappeared— later on she would also reveal only to her that it was because Harry had dreamt about him getting hurt and then they found Arthur Weasley injured tremendously. She shouldn't be dwelling on her worries when they have bigger problems to deal with. With a book in her hands, the girl wraps herself in a ball and fell in a deep sleep.

Even days after her arrival, things did not manage to get better. She mostly stays up in her room rereading the books she has inside. Some of them were from one of their guest rooms that somehow involved a lot of philosophy which surprises her since she figures her parents never cared about it. Spencer practically feels like that one muggle princess... what's her name? Cinderella? Except instead of awful stepsisters and stepmother she gets it all biologically. How splendid!

Spencer wakes up with a gasp. She tries to rub her eyes to get herself to open them more clearer, but as she tries lifting up her hands, she hisses in pain. It was then she feels the tight feeling surrounding her wrist and her eyes widen open. She is still in her room, but her body is tied up to one of her chairs. The lights are off and yet very clearly she notices her sister standing in the corner. For some strange reason she feels drowsy. Agony fills up her inside like if her sister made her swallow a lighter that was on. Her eyes met the cold dark ones but they seem rather hazy than normal. Spencer swears her head is swaying left and right. The usual letters and numbers going over her head completely gone. With her mind completely dull from any information that usually travels inside, this freaks her out more than anything. Why is it silent? Everything completely gone except her own voice inside. Trapped.

Silent.

As Morgana approaches her slowly, Spencer blinks continuously. "What— what are you... what are you doing..." Spencer feels herself stammer over the words as if she forgot how to speak. Except, she just couldn't. Every part of her feels entirely exhausted like if she had been set on fire or if she just ran a marathon. Once she notices a syringe bottle in Morgana's hand, Spencer tries shaking her head having no clue what is going on and yet still aware it must not be good. "No— no... what is that— Morgana, don't...."

Immediately, Spencer flinches from her seat as she feels the light stab of the syringe. Her eyes cannot focus well toward the bottle so she can't point out what her sister is using. From the little that she could think, Spencer's only guess is that it is something used by or on muggles. Morgana is still not seventeen so she couldn't be using magic, right?

"Oh, sister. I want to hear you beg. It would be like music to my ears," Morgana leans in her ear and whispers. And with those words, Spencer forces herself to try and ignore the pain, to ignore her ability to speak, and let herself stare coldly back at her. Noticing the blank expression on her face, Morgana grabs her hair and pulls her back. "Do it! You're not a Gryffindor, you're weak and quite frankly annoying with all of your memories. So, please, scream."

Despite how drowsy she feels, Spencer cannot help but let out a chuckle. Morgana's smirk vanishes from her lips and she backs away. "You know," Spencer begins saying before coughing a bit. "I think it's more of the fact that you are begging me to do something, not the other way around," although she tries to make her voice strong, it is pretty clear that she is breathless.

Morgana slaps her in the face and then injects the needle again into Spencer's vein. Spencer flinches at the action and bites back her tongue. Morgana keeps it in for a longer time while she grabs the girl's face and forces her to stare at the scene. "This will pass, but you will remember it so clearly like it was just a few seconds ago. Even as time passes and all because of your stupid ability. You will remember seeing my face plunging this right onto your skin and the sickening pain that I gave to you. You will wonder what kind of things I had done to you. And even when you tell someone else, they'll cease to believe you because I've got them wrapped all in my finger," Morgana hissed quietly before finally removing the injection and throwing it away. She unties her sister's arm before wacking her unconscious once more.

And yet, even before Spencer blacks out, she knows her sister's words are the truth. She would never forget this and not just because of how she could remember everything so clearly, but also because she knows it would not be the last of her watching her sister be awfully cruel. And just like she said, adults would not believe her words if she spoke about it now. Not until they witness her cruelty firsthand.

When she opens her eyes once again, this time she is sitting in the chair, but her hands are free to move. There is a dot of evidence in her arm that proofs that what happened to her had not been a vivid dream. Apart from that, she also notice the small burn marks in her stomach... somehow, Morgana lit fire over her stomach, how? Spencer is not sure, but she reckons it had been with some type of lighter since it is not huge. She gulps in fear before making sure her door is locked and then she leans on it, letting herself fall to the ground while silent tears stream down her face.

Spencer had not been scared of Morgana before. But now, a deep rumble of fear began erupting in her stomach.

.･:*:･ﾟ'✫,'✫'ﾟ･:*:･˙

A FORMAL SILVER DRESS has been left outside her door. Although her family is extremely bad at being... well, family, they do have good fashion sense. Sparkles surround the top half of her dress and other than that bling, the dress is pretty simple for whatever event they were to have. She knows it would be dumb if she disobeys her parent's wishes. Spencer now stays in their house and 'everything that goes on in their manor is their problem'. Truthfully, she has no idea what is bound to happen. Her eyes glances down at the dress. It is beautiful, but she absolutely despises the fact that the only reason they gave it to her is because of whoever is bound to go to the manor. The fact that Morgana has not gone ahead and shred it to pieces surprises her.

Christmas is to occur in one day. Spencer fixes herself up nicely before exiting her room. She hesitates to continue and yet she made sure to lock it, tightly gripping into the key she installed (first she had to read a book about creating locks the muggle way). Her parents could enter the room with magic, but Morgana is still not old enough to do so and that is what matters. She places the keys inside her dress (you know, breasts are well-hiding spots!). With a deep breath, she forces a polite and fake smile to appear in her face before she heads downstairs to where voices are being greeted.

Out of everyone, Spencer was not expecting the Malfoy family to be the guests in their manor. Lucius Malfoy and her own father are shaking hands with a sort of respect between the two men while Narcissa seems to only smile politely toward her mother. Their attention wander to the youngest Montague as she makes her way down the stairs, keeping the same polite smile on her face despite the surprise she feels. She could sense Morgana's wrath and the disappointing stares already gazing at her while she makes her way toward Draco Malfoy's mother and gently nods, her hand immediately being held out.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Malfoy. My name is Spencer," the young Montague greets kindly. Her eyes wander to the man and although her smile lessens, she still politely says, "and you, Mr. Malfoy."

Spencer decides that she does not like Lucius Malfoy. According to what she has heard from Harry, and others as well, he is a rude and ignorant person. Also, he is a Deatheater without a doubt in question. The amount of times she has heard about his own rivalry against Harry disgusts her seeing as he is not even a student at Hogwarts anymore. However, she does not mind Narcissa. The women perhaps shares the same immoral thoughts as her husband, but at least she cares about being a mother firsthand. She could tell by the way Malfoy reacted the last time she called him out. Which is why when she glances at him, an almost embarrassed look appears on his face (if it were not for the fact that he always kept a cool smirk).

The youngest girl places herself in the seat where the food comfortably lays. While she does do the dishes, her father still ends up being the one that cooks since they would never trust Spencer with being in the kitchen since they assume she would poison them (it is a good idea). The rest of their guests follow along and when Malfoy chooses to sit beside Spencer rather than Morgana, the older Montague gives a look toward her mother and urges for her to do something.

"Oh, honey," Glorious emphasizes the word and forces it out of her mouth as she stares at her youngest. Spencer turns to her mother in confusion before biting back a remark as the woman with a sweet smile tells her, "I want you to sit beside me so you won't bother our guests."

Narcissa, who notices the way that her son would rather be with the younger girl than the older one, steps in and comments, "Glorious, I am sure your daughter will not cause a problem." Spencer appears taken back by the woman's defense before gently smiling at her.

As the people began eating, Narcissa places her fork down and stares at Spencer curiously. "You are in the same year as my Draco, correct?" The boy beside her began turning red in embarrassment at her endearing name.

Spencer didn't think much on it since she wished her own mother would treat her as such. Remembering the the woman is talking to her, Spencer nods in agreement. A slight mischief in her eye pops up while the woman questions if Draco is doing well. While a panicked look appears on his face, the girl hums to herself knowing she could potentially get him in trouble as she said she would back in the Quidditch game.

"Draco is very smart, Mrs. Malfoy. He does well in classes, but..." as she began with her words, Malfoy sighs in relief internally before his eyes widen at her teasing words. Truth be told, the reason she said his first name is to make it appear as if they are civilized. Again, he sighs in relief as she continues, "he rather talks quite often. He cannot be blamed, however. Everyone has their moments."

The woman smiles in appreciation. "Thank you, Spencer. Since he's in your class, I assume you see him often," Narcissa comments. Just as Spencer nods in agreement, their attention head towards the older girl.

Morgana leans in forward and cuts in, "Yeah, but I'm actually in the same house as him so I see him more often."

At this, Lucius glances at the older and then to the youngest with a raised eyebrow. His voice is the opposite of his wife and he could care less about being kind. Spencer forces herself not to glare at the man and instead redeems herself for having such a good poker face. The man narrows his eyes as he questions accusingly, "Then you are not a Slytherin like the rest of your family?"

Her mother clears her throat and defends her family reputation, "Unfortunately, she is one of the first to break our tradition. But the rest of us have pride in the Slytherin house." To make her point, she points at herself, her husband, and then Morgana.

Narcissa notices the discomfort in the younger girl's face and steps in with a sharp look toward her husband, "That's interesting! What house are you in then?"

Spencer does not regain her smile, but she glances at her family distastefully before answering, "Ravenclaw, actually."

The woman's eyes brighten in memory while Lucius scrunches up his nose in disgust. That is until his wife begin speaking, "I used to have a friend in Ravenclaw. She was not exactly the brightest nor the ones who loved to read books, however."

An understanding look fell on Spencer's face. "Oh, yeah. That's a common area in my house. While it is true that many enjoy reading, it's purely for their own content and not everyone else. Ravenclaw students tend to be adventurous or creative and rather open-minded. Not all of them are smart in a way to become geniuses, but they each have their area in specialty that goes over the top."

"That explains it then. My friend was rather adventurous," Narcissa smiles at the thought before it saddens. Instead of continuing her about her friend, she clears her throat and glances at the girl with interest. "What else can you say about the other houses?"

Morgana stiffly and coldly continues eating her food, her eyes glaring right at her sister's. It appears that only Narcissa, Draco, and Spencer has stopped eating while they found a conversation to continue with. The others just chose to eat slowly as they watch.

The young Montague rose in eyebrow in surprise before saying, "Gryffindors tend to be marked as the warrior type. While many of them are not afraid to put people in their places, there are still a few that question why they are there. Based on the origins of what I read about Godric, he wants students that when the hardest time comes, they choose to do what they believe in and fight for that cause. Obviously, not everyone turns out to be a courageous student, but many of them go through a choice in life that requires to make those tough choices."

"Hufflepuffs are seen as the weak link, I suppose? I'm not entirely sure, but Helga Hufflepuff wants the loyal and genuine students. That does not mean that everyone in the house could be considered a good person. Loyalties could be done to anyone. Someone could view themselves as a good person, or perhaps they did not fit into any other house and the Hufflepuffs took them in. Not all of them are as sweet as candy. They can be strong and smart and cunning," Spencer continues, pausing for a moment before nodding in acceptance. It shocks her to see that Narcissa and Draco are both paying very much attention to her words. Lucius pats his mouth with a handkerchief before clearing his throat.

"And what of Slytherin?"

Already knowing that question was coming, Spencer fixes her dress strap from her shoulder and clearly points out, "Salazar Slytherin hopes his students would be cunning, ambitious, resourceful, determined. Anything to do with getting what they so desire whether it can be used for good or bad. They are overlooked by the other houses, but I think Slytherins should receive more credit. I've met a few that I turned out to like."

Malfoy chuckles slightly and hides it with a cough. It was barely hitting him on who she is talking about. While the girl is obviously referring to Theodore Nott, one of his dorm mates, she also technically involved his best mate. For some reason, the two of them continuously bump into another and are seen almost as civil. He first notice when they had gone to Hogsmeade and his friend told them he would see them back at school. Then again when Blaise called him out for being an ass.

"I can see why you are in Ravenclaw," Narcissa praises with a kind smile. The others seem to grimace at the sentence.

The rest of the time, everyone continues eating in silence. It is the Montagues and Lucius that finish the food rather quickly, though that may have been because of how they did not stop when Spencer had been talking. The young girl took her time to eat the food, her bites slow and unrelaxed. She is never a fast eater, but every time she's at home it felt like her appetite had disappeared. When they finish, Morgana is the first to practically throw herself in front of Draco after he stands. His eyes widen in alert before he calms himself down and coolly tells her, "I was hoping to talk with Spencer, actually."

"That reminds me," Glorious steps in with a forced smile. The Malfoy family turn to her in curiosity while the only boy in the room crosses his arms. Spencer's mother gets beside her and puts a hand on her shoulder making it appear heart-warm, but in reality she is squeezing it tightly. Spencer forces herself to appear normal and not smack the hand away. "Spencer needs to tend the dishes first. You know how children has those bad days and well... she has to make up for it," the woman sighs.

Narcissa stares down at the shoulder and then back at the woman. "Oh, don't be silly. We could work it out," she tries defending the young girl.

Realizing that her mother would not change her mind, Spencer shakes her head and forces out, "That is alright, Mrs. Malfoy. I don't mind cleaning." She nods politely before walking away from her mother. Her eyes meet Draco's and very clearly she sees his own concerned eyes. Before he can say something, he flinches to the sound of Morgana jumping beside him and grabbing his arm.

Why the hell does everyone— even Malfoy actually feel the need to get involve?

She grabs the dishes out of the table and places them in the sink. This time, Spencer makes sure to be extra careful with the fact that the dress she wore is truly gorgeous and there is no way she would ruin it just because of her stupid family. Once she finishes, she cleans her hands and sighs deeply. Her eyes wanders to the doorway where Malfoy leans with his arms crossed. As always, he wears a black suit with a white shirt under. She never cared for it, but she knows he is good-looking for a twat.

"What are you doing, Malfoy?" She sighs out, leaning onto the counter. Her eyes go past his shoulders just in case Morgana is behind him. Luckily, she is not.

The Slytherin boy shrugs and eyes her up and down without hesitation or embarrassment. "Your dress is nice," he compliments confidently.

Spencer rolls her eyes and gives him a look. "Might not want Morgana to hear that," she drawls out. His nose scrunches up in discomfort.

"Your family truly does not see who she really is?" Malfoy scoffs out in confusion.

The young girl shakes her head. "They don't care about anything. She's their perfect daughter."

Malfoy's eyes wander down to her wrist and he straightens up immediately. He slowly moves toward her and stares at it closer. When Spencer realizes what he is doing, she places her hand on her wrist and lowers the bracelets to hide the mark where she had been tied up. It is quite interesting, truly. A few months ago, she had been trying to hide the printed words (which are still visible) on her hand, and now she is doing the same with both her wrists.

"What happened to you?"

The question lingers in the air. Spencer purses her lips and gulps. Instead of answering his question, she pats his shoulder and warns him, "You should go back to Morgana."

"Look, I may be an ass and every inappropriate word that my mother would smack me for even thinking, but Morgana is unexplainable. I'd rather throw myself off some cliff than date her," Malfoy makes sure to explain it clearly. Before he could continue, their conversation is cut off by a few taps on the window. Their eyes wander toward the closed window and while the Slytherin seem to recognize the owl that taps on it, Spencer definitely does not. She glances at the boy beside her as he mumbles, "What are you doing here?"

Malfoy opens the window and lets the owl in. As she notices the restless owl, Spencer serves some of the owl food they had around and places it for the owl to eat. Whoever owl's it is, it manages to have manners with the way it became cozy around the young girl and gently rubs its head on her hand. A small smile appears on her face before she grabs the letters that are on its feet. One of them is directed for her, but the other for Malfoy.

"How does this owl know you were here?" Spencer questions Malfoy as she hands him his own letter. His eyebrows rose up and a gentle smirk reaches his face.

"Actually, I think he was suppose to go to me afterwards, but he met me here," the Slytherin tells her, heading to pet the owl before removing his hand quickly as it went to bite him. "Oh, how rude. You still don't like me, huh, Nunzio?"

"Cute owl. Whose is it?" Spencer smiles proudly as she realizes the owl likes her rather than Malfoy. The boy beside her rolls his eyes. He points at the letter she has.

"I figured you would know since it's my best mate sending you letters. Didn't know the two of you were friends," he remarks, narrowing his eyes at her warily. Spencer slightly opens her mouth in shock. She never would have thought that the Blaise Zabini would actually send her a letter. A frown begins appearing in her face. She is forbidden to head to their owlery, but maybe if Malfoy was beside her...

A tiny smirk appears in her face as she turns to him. "Do you mind doing me a favor?"

The blond boy stares at her warily. "Depends..."

Fortunately, Malfoy seems to agree with helping her out and the two silently walk toward her father. Currently, the rest of the Montagues and Malfoys were discussing something in the living room which made Oliver Montague vulnerable to the two kids. He looks up from his spot and his eyes wander from the blond to the brunette. The Slytherin put on his charming expression and smiles politely at the man.

"Hello, Mr. Montague. How have you been?" He questions, his eyes taking a quick glance to the girl before staring back at him.

The elder man nods politely. "I'm doing well, son. Is there any particular reason why both of you are here?" Oliver manages to stare away from his daughter and yet still acknowledge her.

"Father," Spencer begins lightly, only continuing after Malfoy gave her a comforting nod. "I was hoping that I could send a few letters? I know I'm not allowed, but—"

"Go ahead," Oliver sighs out. Spencer stops talking and stares at her father in shock. Noticing her expression, he clears his throat and tells her, "Your mother and sister are busy. And I'm sure Draco would like to write a letter as well. Just don't stay there for too long."

She blinks in surprise before nodding numbly. Her eyes met Malfoy's and she tilts her head toward the door, making him follow along as she heads to the owlery. The boy glances around the room impressively before taking out the letter he wrote back to his friend. Spencer ignores him and instead took out a bracelet and attached it to a tie as she wraps it around the letter. That one would go to her best friend and knowing him, he would turn in something to the owl to give back to her. She ties another short letter hoping that one would arrive to Theodore's own manor (and hopefully he gets it and not his father). They turn to Zabini's owl and while Malfoy already gave his own letter, Spencer glances down at hers.

She has not open the letter yet. And she figures he wouldn't either until it is officially Christmas— or at least that is what she hopes for because then it would be awkward if what he gave her was not Christmas related at all. Her eyes read her own short letter before pursing her lips and scrolling it close. Her hand gently pats the owl's head before muttering, "You can go back to your owner, okay, Nunzio?"

With a final nod, the owl flew out of the room and soars high into the winds. Malfoy goes beside her and shrugs nonchalantly.

"Should we head back?"

Despite not wanting to, Spencer nods her head. The two fifth year students enter back at the manor and spend the rest of the day conversing with one another, unless Morgana got herself involved and in that case, she would head to the other part of the room.

.･:*:･ﾟ'✫,'✫'ﾟ･:*:･˙

SPENCER WOKE UP FROM her sleep with a tap on her window. The owl she sent hours ago came back with its own package. It is bigger than what she sent and she gently let their family's owl inside and grabs ahold of what he had. She opens it up (it was now actually Christmas) and as she noticed the block of technology that she first read about, she chooses to grab the letter that came with it

Spence,

How are you doing? You're probably not gonna be able to answer that, but thank you so much for the gift! I cannot wait to open it tomorrow— or today? Your owl goes kind of slow that it came late at night and freaked my mother out but she got over it. Anyway, thanks for the gift. I hope you like mine! If you don't know what it is (who am I kidding, you're the smartest person ever) then I'm glad to tell you. This is a device called a phone. You know how I mentioned my dad is an engineer and well, he developed it for it to be just a screen so sadly, we cannot text on it (but it is also rare seeing as it is advanced). But you could definitely see the muggle TV shows and movies and news so that's cool, right? I hope you enjoy it and Merry Christmas!

Love,
Ricky

A small chuckle escapes her lips and she gently closes the letter before storing it away. Her hands grabs the device and waits for it to turn on. A bright screen immediately make her eyes hurt and she rubs them in surprise. Knowing she would have time until it was considered late for her to go downstairs, she turns it on recalling the books she read on it. After ten minutes of trying to figure out how it works, she makes her way to the 'news' section and her eyes narrow in thought as she read the head title.

The video began playing and her eyes seem to look closely at one of the authors of her favorite non-fictional books. He looks younger than she expected. Curls laid on top of his head, covering his forehead slightly. It is parted to the left side more than the right, but only by a little. For a moment, she notices a few similarities that she could have sworn she had seen somewhere else. Huh, she ignores it. From the back of the book.

"The FBI appreciates all the help the people gave us. We have now caught the killer," DanielGray assures, his eyes staring right into her screen before nodding. His hand met his suit that he tugs on before leaving the area. It is odd that an American case is also being presented to the other side of the world, but perhaps it is just huge news in North America. Spencer tilts her head curiously, although she closes her new device and puts it away. Realizing it is time for her to dress properly, Spencer stands up and makes herself look presentable before making her way downstairs.

The Malfoys are already awake and making conversation. Lucius barely gave her a glance, however, Narcissa stands up from her seat and held her arms out. "Merry Christmas," the Malfoy woman mumbles quietly into her ear, receiving one back.

When the woman let her go, Spencer glances at the blond in questioning. Malfoy nods and repeats, "Merry Christmas."

"Thank you for your invitation," Narcissa and Lucius comments, giving a nod of appreciation. Morgana smirks widely and waves goodbye at the young blond. Through the Floo Network, the Malfoys vanishes from their view and left to their own.

Immediately, darkness overcame the facade. Glorious glares at her youngest daughter before walking out with Morgana. Spencer scoffs silently and went her own way to the kitchens. She only wishes that one day, she would get a Christmas she could actually enjoy. Malfoy somehow lifted her spirits, but they are barely acquaintances and only relied on each other out of boredom. Knowing they would pretend she did not exist, the young Montague makes her way back to her room after assuring everything is still clean and leans on the side of her window. In the midst of herself, she takes out the letter Zabini left her and finally opens it up.

To Jo March,

I don't usually write letters to people. Not really my thing. Though, I thought that with a sister like yours you might want something to lift your spirits. Merry Christmas, I suppose. I truly hope you know that you are a very bright witch. And that you are exceptionally strong that I'm surprised you were not put in Gryffindor. Happy Christmas— or Merry Christmas as the muggles say.

Charles Darnay
Ps. If you mention that I wrote something nice I will deny it

Spencer chuckles lightly before closing it once more. To anyone who would read the letters it would have been awfully confusing on the names they wrote for each other— coincidentally, she wrote his assumingely favorite character's name on his as well. Jo March and Charles Darnay completely from different books, but it is each from their own favorite one. She lets herself collapse into the bed with the letter clutch in her hand.

             (Although this was not a Happy Christmas, she grows comfort in the two gifts she received).

▂✫⌒*･ﾟ

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
yeah so who wants to murder morgana 😻 ??
join me in the fun and bring all u can get 🙈

i think spencer should get adopted cuz her
mother and father suck ass so pls fill the form
here ✨

originally, draco and spence were gonna be
friends, but now they're just acquainted and
def prefer each other rather than morgana
cuz yeah. also, i'd like to point out that spencer
was definitely the most beautiful person there:
(the manip is bad but diana silvers isn't!)