Christmas
Amira dressed slowly on Christmas Day. Last night there had been absolutely no mention of it being Christmas Eve. She'd never had traditions on Christmas, so it didn't bother her, but she wondered what the Malfoy family traditions were. Draco had mentioned that they had celebrated when he was a child. She didn't want to intrude on their family time, but Narcissa had informed her to come to her small study instead of breakfast that day. She had also told her to ditch the formal dress and just wear something comfortable.
She hoped Lucius and Draco were okay with her attending. Of course, maybe Narcissa just needed to tell her something, and she wouldn't be attending at all.
She hadn't been able to get anyone gifts, as she hadn't been able to leave the Manor, so she hoped that would be alright.
There was a knock at her door, so she hurried to answer it.
"Merry Christmas," Draco said softly when she opened the door. He greeted her with a soft and quick kiss. They didn't share a room most nights. Often they had different assignments in the evening, and went to bed at different times. But every morning before breakfast, he came to collect her with a greeting and a kiss. After the Yule Ball, when they were alone, he had become very affectionate and she was learning to be as well. They hadn't talked about if they were officially together, it didn't really matter to Amira. She knew he cared for her, and she felt the same.
"Merry Christmas," she replied. He was dressed in something that wasn't quite pajamas, but was a soft gray outfit. She was wearing similar soft black pants and a wool shirt. He took her hand and guided her out of the room.
He led her to his parent's study. "Normally we do this in the small living room downstairs," he explained.
"Am I intruding?" she asked quietly before they went in.
"No," he shook his head, "We all wanted you here."
He turned to her and took her chin in his hand lightly, "I'm very happy you are celebrating with us."
"Ok," she said shyly.
He kissed her forehead before he pushed open the door. They dropped their hands before walking in. It was unsure if they were truly allowed to be together. Narcissa definitely knew what they were doing, but to be safe, they kept their affections for themselves behind closed doors.
The room was decorated in a very cozy Christmas way.
There was a nice tree in the corner, and the fireplace was going. There were pastries, tea, and more on the table, and under the tree, there were piles of presents. Lucius and Narcissa sat on one plush couch looking more relaxed and informal than Amira had ever seen them. Narcissa was curled slightly against Lucius with her feet tucked under her and a fuzzy blanket across her lap.
Draco sat on the opposite couch. Amira sat next to him.
"Merry Christmas dears," Narcissa greeted. She put her feet down and leaned forward. "Hot chocolate?"
"Yes please," Draco said with a smile. He leaned forward to help her pour the drinks. He loaded Amira's with peppermint flakes and marshmallows. Amira tugged a blanket over her lap and curled her feet under her as well. She thanked Draco for the drink and felt cozy and warm.
"Thank you for inviting me," she said.
"We're glad to have you," Lucius answered her. "Over the past few months you've become like a member of the family."
Narcissa smiled softly at her and Amira felt tears prick her eyes at their kindness. She'd never had a family before. Not really.
"Should we do presents?" Narcissa suggested.
She waved her wand and the presents under the tree assembled in front of the people whose name was on them. Amira was shocked to see she had a pile of her own.
"I didn't-"
"I know, and it's okay," Narcissa interrupted her, "These are for you, and don't you dare feel guilty."
Amira nodded slowly.
Amira reached forward at Draco's coaxing to take the small present off the top of her stack. She unwrapped it carefully as the rest of the room unwrapped their own. The wrapping paper was silver and shiny. It hid a box. She opened the lid and smiled when she saw a simple set of silver rings. She often found herself admiring Narcissa's rings, and she'd even been allowed to borrow some for the Yule ball. Now she had her own.
"They're charmed not to slip off," Narcissa explained as she opened her own present.
"Thank you," Amira said gratefully.
Her next few presents were all thoughtful as well. A pair of shoes for running, another dueling outfit, books about the Wizarding World and types of obscure magics, chocolates and sweets, nail polish, and a broom.
"Now you can learn to fly with me," Draco smiled. She nodded, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude.
"We have one more for you," Narcissa said. Amira didn't even know what to say. She felt so undeserving of all of these gifts and the thought that had gone behind them. She didn't know how to express it.
"Wait," she said, "Let me give you something."
"You don't need to, dear," Narcissa assured her. "I told you."
"I know, but I want to," Amira said. She sat forward and put her hands together. She thought fast about what she wanted to make. Something that would be meaningful for the two Malfoy parents and their son. She closed her eyes and started to channel the magic into her hands. She felt something solid growing there so she spread her hands apart to give it more room. She wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to do, she just wanted to channel all of the beautiful things she'd witnessed about their family. She tried to push love, positivity, light, and strength.
Soon, she was holding a large object. She opened her eyes.
She had created a replica of the Malfoy family room that was next to the rose garden. In it, there were small figures, Narcissa, Lucius, and Draco. Except Draco was young, and he was playing happily with his parents. There were roses that grew outside and she could see tiny peacocks strutting around. The model was full of light and bright colors. It emanated a feeling of life and love. She turned it nervously to show them their gift.
Narcissa gasped and even Lucius looked shocked.
She set it on the table in front of them, and Draco took her hand, looking misty eyed. "This is incredible."
"This is .... this is the best gift I have ever received," Narcissa said, wiping a tear away as she bent to look closer.
"It's priceless," Lucius murmured, stroking the side of it.
Amira felt shy then at their gratitude. The family stared in awe at her gift for a while longer. Narcissa sat up.
"Draco, get your gift for her," she commanded, wiping her eyes. Draco nodded and reached behind the side of the couch.
He handed her a small, shrunken backpack and a little toy snowman.
She looked at him questioningly.
"It's a portkey," he said.
"To where?" she asked.
"It goes to a family home we have in the south of Spain," Narcissa explained, "It's on a beach."
"We have gotten permission for the two of you to spend the rest of the day and tomorrow there," Lucius explained.
"We tried to get the rest of the break, but it wasn't allowed," Narcissa explained regretfully.
"It was Draco's idea," Lucius said. Amira looked at Draco wide eyed.
"I knew you wanted to go to the beach," Draco said sheepishly, "We don't have to."
"No, I want to," she said quickly, "It's amazing."
"The bag is packed with everything you should need," Narcissa explained, "You can go whenever you please."
"You should bring the broom," Draco suggested, "You can learn to fly there."
"I don't even know what to say," Amira breathed, "This is..."
"Go," Narcissa encouraged with a smile, "You two deserve it. Have fun."
"Thank you, thank you for everything," Amira told the two of them. She turned to Draco who pulled out his own bag and took a hold of her broom. He tapped the snowman with his wand and it glowed blue.
"Ready?" he asked. She nodded and placed her hand on it. She felt a pull behind her navel before she whirled away.
She was taken aback by the magic that was all around her. It was too much to comprehend and she almost freaked out but she could feel Draco's magic traveling with her. Her feet hit sand when it ended and she stumbled and lost her balance. She fell.
Draco himself struggled to remain upright on the unsteady surface. It was bright there, and Amira took a moment to adjust her eyes. There was a warm, almost hot breeze on her skin, and she could hear the rushing of waves gently meeting the shore. The water was so blue, as was the sky, not a cloud in sight. She struggled to her feet.
"Wow," she said, taking in the view. The water went all the way to the sky, way off in the distance. She couldn't believe it. Draco picked up her fallen bag. She turned to look at him. "Thank you Draco."
He smiled. Then he looked around. "I haven't been here since I was a child."
She turned to look behind them. The sand faded into a green grass and there was a wooden bridge that led up off of the beach to a porch of a large white beach house. It had a large deck that had a pool, and covered area with white curtains and white sun chairs. Behind it was the two story beach house with large windows.
"Shall we go in and change?" Draco suggested, "It's rather hot for these clothes."
She nodded and followed him up to the house. He slid open the patio door when they got there. It led into a clean white kitchen. There was fresh fruit and water on the island. There was a living area next, and a small dining room. Draco led her up the stairs to show that there were two large bedrooms. He opened the door to one. There was a big white four poster bed and a connecting bathroom. There was another sliding door that led onto a balcony that had more sun chairs and what appeared to be a hot tub overlooking the ocean.
"We can stay together, or you can have your own room if you prefer," he offered.
"I don't mind staying with you," she said shyly. He nodded and set both of their things down on the bed.
"I'll let you change in here," he said. He unshrank their bags and pulled out a few clothes from his before going to the other bedroom to change. She took her bag to the bathroom. She looked through the contents. There were several swimsuits. A few one pieces, and some two pieces. She decided to put on one of the green two pieces. It wasn't super skimpy but definitely showed more skin than she ever had before.
There were also shorts, and tank tops, as well as a few swimsuit coverups. She put on a pair of high-waisted shorts and black tank top that stopped at her midriff. There was also a pair of sunglasses and a few hats so she put the sunglasses on her head.
There was a sun protection spray in the bag that she sprayed wherever she could reach. She could feel that there was magic in it.
Then, she left the bathroom. Draco's bag had been replaced on the chair in the corner of the room, so she figured he had gone back downstairs. She went down the stairs and saw him there at that island eating a piece of fruit.
She joined him. He was wearing navy swim shorts and a white tank top with sunglasses hanging off of the collar. Amira tried not to notice the way his arms were showing and how they were more muscular than she would have expected. She'd seen his arms before, but this tank top really showed them off.
She grabbed some watermelon and a glass of water.
"It's so nice here," she told him. He smiled.
"Yeah, I had hoped you would like it," he agreed. "Would you like to go swimming?"
"In the ocean?" she asked nervously.
"Yes?" he asked back. "Do you not want to?"
"No I do," she said, "But... are there sharks?"
He laughed, "No, well, maybe, but probably not."
"That does not reassure me," she said, nerves rising up in her.
"You can just use your magic if there's a shark," Draco assured her.
"Right," she said, "Because I'm not a very good swimmer."
"That's okay," he said. Then he extended his hand, "Let's go."
She smiled and took his hand. They went down to the beach again and stopped about ten feet up from the water to take off their outer clothes. Amira tried not to feel self conscious in front of Draco and she also tried hard not to stare at his chest.
He didn't say a word and just grinned cheekily at her before running into the waves. When he was about knee high, he jumped and dove the rest of the way in. She held her breath until she saw him pop up again.
She walked to the edge of the water more carefully, and remembered to take her sunglasses off of her head and lay them down on the towels that Draco had conjured.
She let the water rush over her toes and felt her feet sinking more into the sand. She walked forward. The water was just barely cool, and felt refreshing compared to the hot sun. She could feel a natural energy running through the water and trailed her fingers along the surface when she was about thigh level. Draco was splashing around the waves waiting for her.
He joined her when she had walked far enough to be at her hips.
"So?" he asked, "How is it?"
"It's nice," she said.
"You need to go all of the way," he encouraged. She shook her head and his eyes gleamed playfully before he reached for her waist. She squealed as he lifted her and dunked her. Her head was submerged in water. She closed her eyes and held her breath as she pushed herself back to the surface. She stood up with a gasp.
"Draco!"
He laughed as she wiped her eyes and moved her hair over her shoulder. She splashed him for revenge. He only laughed harder and splashed her back. Soon, there was an all out splash war. Amira was losing badly even as she laughed, so she launched herself at him to tackle him down into the water. His arms wrapped around her waist as he fell, pulling her down into the water with him.
They resurfaced with him holding her, this time crouched in the water so that it was only their heads bobbing above the surface. He kissed her softly. She kissed him back. His hands rested gently on her waist, and he stroked tiny circles with his thumbs which sent goosebumps up her spine. They broke apart for air.
"There's a lot of energy in the water," she murmured to distract herself from the warmth building in her belly. She put her hand out over it as he held her, wading backwards into deeper water.
She concentrated and made little ripples with her magic. She shaped the water into a ball and sent it rolling across the waves until it dissolved.
"I'm never going to get used to that," he sighed. She shrugged and kissed him again. He obliged happily. Saltwater mixed into the taste of his lips. She threaded her fingers through his wet hair and pulled herself closer. She then realized she felt a presence approaching them. She broke apart from him quickly and looked around.
"What is it?" he asked worriedly.
"There's something in the water with us," she said. She held tight to Draco as her mind chanted 'shark'.
"Fish?" he suggested.
"No, it's bigger," she said, anxiety overwhelming her. She couldn't tell what it was. "Draco."
"Shh, it's okay, let's go back to shore," he said. There wasn't time, and Amira could see a shadow coming from over his shoulder under the water. It was big. It was a shark. The shark swam around them and Draco laughed. "It's not a shark, it's a dolphin."
"A dolphin?" she asked. The dolphin bumped them playfully. She could feel then that the animal didn't dislike them, and wasn't going to hurt them. It was simply curious. It surveyed them for a few moments before swimming off. It leapt into the air and dove in gracefully, and then it was gone.
"That was neat," Draco murmured.
"It gave me a heart attack," Amira giggled.
"Do you want to fly?" Draco asked suddenly. "We could fly over the water in case you fall."
Amira nodded, and she let go of Draco to swim back to shore. He summoned their brooms and they dried off with their towels a bit.
"Alright, so stand over the broom," he instructed her. She did as she was told. She felt a unique magic humming through the broom. She wanted to analyze it farther but she paid attention to Draco's words. "Then you just sit and push off. Be careful not to lean too far forward or to the side, it's going to be really touchy. Go slow."
She watched as he gave a gentle push off of the ground and hovered in front of her. She felt kind of dumb jumping and hoping it would hold her, but it worked. She hovered unsteadily in front of him. She could feel the magic of the broom stabilizing her and the air around her. As soon as she could tell what it was doing, she relaxed.
"Good," Draco encouraged, "Now follow me."
He stayed low and slowly moved out over the water. Amira leaned forward a bit, and shot forward past him. She shrieked and leaned backwards, which caused her broom to flip over completely and before she knew it she was in the water. She pushed herself to the surface and coughed.
"That was... good?" Draco was chuckling and holding her broom. She rolled her eyes and walked back to shore where he met her so that she could mount the broom again.
This time, she didn't lean forward and just thought about moving forward at a slow pace, and she was successful. She followed Draco around in lazy circles until she felt confident.
"Ok, I think I'm getting it now," she told him, "Can we go faster?"
He nodded, "Let's go higher."
He angled his broom up into the sky and shot off.
Show off, Amira grumbled in her mind. She angled the broom up and raced after him. It felt wild but her broom had her, and she trusted it. She knew she wasn't going to fall again. Draco's eyes widened when he turned to see her keeping up with him. He turned back to his broom and Amira laughed as he began to zig zag and go up and down. She kept up, though she wasn't as smooth as he was. She decided to cut underneath him and do a loop over his head.
"You've got it!" he cheered at her. She loved the feeling of the wind in her hair. It felt like this is where she was meant to be. The speed and the adrenaline felt just like how she did when she used a ton of magic and she felt euphoric.
She used her broom to propel her up into the air far out over the water. The world looked so small. Maybe like this, she could escape. She looked down at the water. She was about a hundred feet up and she had an idea. She lowered herself slowly to a height where she didn't think her body would implode on contact. Draco floated next to her, looking at her questioningly.
"What are you doing?" he asked. She looked at him mischievously. "Amira-"
Before he could finish, she fell sideways off her broom, free falling into the water below her. She put her arms in a diving position and entered the water gracefully. She quickly thought to cast a bubble around her eyes so that she could open them. The water was peaceful and undisturbed. She could see anything, and she could sense that she was alone there. She swam back up when she needed air.
She found Draco holding her broom waiting for her.
"You scared me to death," he accused. She laughed and swung up onto the offered broom. She squeezed out the water from her hair and threw it over her shoulder.
"It was fun," she defended. "You should try it."
"No," he said, "Not from that high up. What happened to your fear of sharks?"
"There aren't any," she answered calmly, "I can tell."
"You're ridiculous," he said.
She just smirked and then took off again. She winded the broom around in loops, corkscrews, up and down. This time, she paid attention to the feeling of the magic, another idea brewing in her mind. When she felt certain about it, she dove off the broom and flipped gracefully, and focused on trying to slow her momentum downwards in the same way the broom would have done. She underestimated the amount of magic it would require, and found herself freefalling again, only slightly slowed. She laughed and flipped into a graceful dive before she hit the water.
"You're having too much fun," Draco said, though he was laughing at her antics when she swam back up.
"I think I can fly," she told him as she climbed back onto her broom.
"What?" he asked.
"I think I can mimic the magic of the broom," she said excitedly, "I could fly."
"That would be really cool," he said in awe. "But no one can fly."
"I can do it Draco," she said, "I'm going to."
She stood on the broom. She remembered the feeling of it rising up, and pushed it just to her feet. She closed her eyes so that she wouldn't be scared. She felt the wind surrounding her like a hug. She opened her eyes to see that she was floating above her broom by several feet.
"Race you," she taunted, feeling high. Before he could speak, she turned in the air and shot forward. This was so much better than a broom. This was as free as she'd ever been. Even gravity couldn't bring her down. She flipped and soared higher. Her heart was pounding and her head felt dizzy with adrenaline. She was never going to stop. Draco was yelling for her but she was too far away. She needed to go faster, higher. This was the best she'd ever felt. Her lungs burned and her vision started closing in. Suddenly it was all black.
She came to and realized she was in a free fall towards the ground. She screamed and tried to gather her magic to stop her fall, but it was tired and it pulled painfully. She was falling from way too high.
Before she could hit the water, an arm wrapped around her and she slammed into a body.
Draco guided them down to the sand on the beach before letting her go. She stumbled and fell onto the sand. She was breathing hard.
"What the hell was that?" he asked her angrily. Her head was spinning, and she couldn't think very well.
"I passed out, I think," she gasped between breaths, putting her head in her hands.
"No kidding," he said, "What were you thinking?"
Her breath was coming back and her heart rate was settling. A warm buzz settled over her body.
"I was flying," she said with a tired grin.
"Yes, and you wouldn't stop," he said. She could tell he was stern and concerned but she just felt too good. "It took a lot of magic from you."
She giggled and stood, ignoring the way she swayed and almost fell. "But it was so much fun."
"You would have died if I hadn't been there," he snapped, "You need to sit down."
"No," she said walking towards the water. Her legs were shaky but her head was in the clouds. She was floating. She was going to fly again. She needed to feel that way again. The sky was pulling her to it. Her magic needed to be used. Just a little more.
"Amira," Draco said and grabbed her wrist.
"Just a little more," she said. She could vaguely hear her words slurring together and her vision was swimming.
"No." he said, "Stop, you're not doing anymore."
"Draco it's okay," she told him, trying to focus, "It feels good."
"You're barely conscious," he argued, "I don't care how it feels."
"You don't understand," she murmured, turning back, ignoring his hand on her wrist. She focused on her magic. It was calling her, begging to be used just a little more.
"No!" Draco yanked her back and held her against him. He pulled her down to the ground so that she couldn't move. "Stop, you're going to get yourself killed."
Now that they were sitting, Amira did feel very dizzy, and not in a good way.
"Oh," she breathed. She leaned her forehead against his collarbone. He relaxed as she stopped fighting him. Her magic was still begging her to be used, and she still felt high, but she could also feel how bad her body was feeling. "I think I did too much."
"You think?" he asked. "Let's go back to the house."
He untangled them, and stood. He tried to help her to her feet but somehow, Amira couldn't really make her legs work. He sighed and scooped her up bridal style before carrying her back to the beach house. He set her gently on one of the soft white chairs in the sun on the porch. He was talking to her but his voice was a little underwater. She felt so comfortable and tired, and her eyes started to drift closed. She fell asleep within seconds.