Holly Jolly Christmas

[Alana Finch]

Having Chaos over for the holidays was a fairly normal event in the Finch household these days. As they sat in her room, alone, Alana couldn’t help but be weirded out by the fact that this wouldn’t be her room for that much longer. Surely, once they were married, the pair were going to be expected to get their own residence. As she sat, leaning against her headboard and writing a letter to a friend, the girl’s red eyes looked up at Chaos who was sitting on the opposite side of the bed, facing her. She didn't know what he was doing, but whatever it was was keeping him occupied and quiet. She was the one who broke the silence first, by nudging his leg with her foot. “Chaos” she called out, wondering if he’d thought about it any but not even going near that topic of conversation. But, she was growing bored and needed something to do besides write this letter.

"Do you want to exchange presents now or with the rest of my family later tonight?" she asked. She’d come to understand Chaos more over the course of all of these get togethers, certainly, but Alana still couldn’t say that she loved Chaos. She still wasn’t sure that she even liked him since he still managed to annoy her more often than not. But it was Christmas, after all, and she had managed to save up enough money to get him something she thought he would like. The teenager put her letter to the side, the quill spilling a drop of ink onto her quilt before she managed to get it back in its bottle. "Say now, please" she added in as sweet a tone as she could muster.

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Being with Alana's family during the holidays made Chaos almost want to celebrate the holiday of Christmas. Many in his family did not. It was a holiday where one cherished another, and that was not in the Zhefarovich traditions. Everything was more or less subtle. He had to deal with the fact that soon they would be married, and sharing the same house, and room. Chaos could tell that they would probably not get along with the decor. Chaos was currently resting, deep in thought, over the next year. He didn't know what it would bring him, but he was going to make a huge step today. His thoughts were shattered as he felt a nudge against this leg. His purple eyes drifted up to see red, before asking if she wanted to exchange presents now or later. "Sure." Chaos went along with it. He wondered how she would react when she learned about the ring that was laying in wait for her. Since they were engaged, she needed something to represent it. Well, maybe not something she needed but it was something nice. His mother helped him pick it out.

As Chaos stood up to go fetch the presents he got her, which included a new, fancy cauldron, a sweater and the ring, he paused for a moment. He turned back to her before raising an eyebrow, "What, are you up to something?" It was in his personality to be a little on the suspicious level. It was not something that he expected from her. Chaos went to get the things anyway, which the box with the ring rested inside the cauldron. That way it would not get lost.​

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana watched as Chaos agreed and got off the bed, heading for the door. She remained in place, not wanting him to see her head for her favorite hiding place. As he turned back to her, Alana stared at him, shaking her head and shrugging slightly at his question. “No. I’m actually trying to be nice so don’t ruin it!” she yelled to his retreating figure. It wasn’t like he had far to go. His room was just across from hers. Jumping from her spot since she didn’t have much time, Alana opened her closet and moved her baby blanket to the side, tugging on the large, rectangular gift. It was a box of fireworks, a deluxe set. The sound was loud but necessary since the box was much too heavy for her to lift and her wand was way across on the other side of the room. Next, she reached under her bed and retrieved a smaller box concealed there which she then placed atop the other.

Sitting back down just in time, Alana smiled as she noticed that he had more than one gift for her. “You first” she said almost immediately, being her usual bossy self. “The big one first.” Tucking her leg under her, Alana watched Chaos, knowing that he’d come to like Christmas at her house. It was a holiday his family thought little of. Her family wasn’t huge on it either, but they at least exchanged gifts. And Alana had earned the money for these herself, running errands for the doctors in her mother’s department at St. Mungo’s.

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Chaos smirked and chuckled as she yelled at him not to ruin it. It is so in his nature to ruin nice things, so it didn't bother him as much to expect the worst in every situation. He was just lucky enough that he did not go to Azkaban for what he did when he was just entering his teenage years. He hoisted the gifts he got for Alana up, in badly wrapped paper. Cooking was something he knew, but wrapping was not. It was clearly a mess with tape everywhere. He entered her bedroom once more to see a large box, on top of a smaller one. He placed the items he got for her on the bed, which made it sink down because of the new cauldron. It was heavy and supposed to last a long time. She told him to open the big one first. He sighed and knelt down on the floor. "The small one for you then. It isn't much. Shopping isn't exactly something I do often."

Chaos ripped the wrapping on the big one after setting the smaller one to the side. He saw fireworks and his purple eyes lit up like the night he lit up Logan. "This is pretty cool. I can't wait to set these off by the beach." Then it was the smaller one. He had his back to her on this one, and he opened it up. Chaos genuinely smiled at the words on it. But to maybe lightening the mood, he stood up and put it on. That smile remained as he turned around to show Alana. He placed his hands on his hips and was about to say 'Kiss the cook' but couldn't bring himself to it because he covered his mouth to keep from rolling in the floor, laughing.​

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana watched Chaos put her presents down on the bed, her curiosity slightly piquing at the weight that pressed her bed down. But, she was still much more interested in watching Chaos open his presents. As he made quick work of it, Alana bit her lip, lifting the smaller of her presents up and using it to shield her lips so he wouldn’t see how hard she was trying to hold in her laughter. It wasn’t the fireworks that had her nearly busting at the seams, but the other present she’d given him. As he slipped it over his head and stood up so she could see, Alana could no longer hold back her laughter. “Isn’t it perfect?” she said between laughs.

Once she’d finally composed herself, Alana picked up the smaller present again. “My turn” she sang as she ignored the terrible wrapping job, really it just made her job easy, and opened the first gift. A sweater. It was nice and her style, so she assumed his mother had helped him pick it out. “Thanks” she said politely, looking at it for another second before putting it to the side and moving her body closer to the second present. Giving another look at Chaos which made her begin to chuckle again, Alana turned her attention to the gift and unwrapped it. A new cauldron. “This is perfect, Chaos” she smiled. “I…I sorta melted my last one” she admitted, a slight tinge of pink coming to her cheeks as she admitted that. She moved closer to get a better look at the cauldron, noting that it was nicer than any she'd ever owned. And then she froze. "Chaos" her voice had pitched higher than normal. "What is that?"

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Chaos was sort of relieved when Alana seemed to like her gifts. He didn't know what he liked better though, the apron that he forgot to take off after he sat down on the bed once more, or the fireworks. Honestly, he thought that the apron was more like him since he did love to cook more than lighting things up. The grill excited him more than magic did nowadays. He chuckled as she admitted that she melted the last cauldron. However, she got to the small box which was obviously either a set of earrings or a ring. Chaos sighed and got closer, reaching into the cauldron and retrieving the box. He opened it to reveal the ring. He avoided eye contact before he shrugged his shoulders, "It was my great-grandmother's. She had a lot of rings to choose from and thought I would get your favorite color." The only thing he didn't like about it was that it was in the shape of a flower. The ring apparently had seen a lot of murders in the past, but he wasn't going to reveal that.

"I asked my grandfather that returned recently, don't meet him, he scares more than half the family by the way, if I could give it to you. After two hours of convincing, he let me." Chaos really did not like Azazel. He seemed to be really old, but really powerful. The fear of his name alone was strange. They were all used to it with Asparuh though. "I thought it could be used more like an engagement ring, or wedding ring... I know we are supposed to get married after we, er, you graduate, but I'd like it to be sooner. " Either way, they were going to get married. At least with a year sooner, they could enjoy each other's company a little more. He just hoped that it would delay the baby making time to two years instead of just one.​

 

[Alana Finch]

Alana was frozen in place even as Chaos slid closer, removing the box from the cauldron. She knew what it was immediately, and though she wanted to feel panicked, her heart rate hadn't kicked up anywhere near what she would have thought. And her desire to run away was eclipsed by her curiosity at what the ring looked like. Chaos continued to speak, but the Slytherin's focus was on the silver ring, a huge purple rock captured in the middle of it. She heard him mention something about his great- someone, but everything in the room felt muffled. The sound in the room eventually returned with a whoosh as Chaos mentioned their wedding, her head lifting up sharply as her eyes narrowed.

The teenagers had been engaged for years, had spent summers and winters together, but this year, it had begun to weigh on her more and more. She was of age now, able to perform magic whenever she wanted. But, it also meant she was able to do things like get married...to Chaos Zhefarovich. She knew that her life had been pushing forward to this moment, but now that it was here she didn't know what to think. This was do or die. Literally. And now that she was seventeen, on the brink of really living, Alana realized how desperately she wanted to live. Rather than thinking of ways to get away and renege on her father's deal, Alana's thoughts had transformed to ways to live the life she wanted outside of this huge, out of her hands decision. The teen sighed heavily as she recognized the monumental moment. " I'd like to at least tell my child that you did this right, so come on. Down on your knee" she urged as she scooted to the edge of her bed. Alana took another deep breath, the panic she hadn't felt earlier now threatening to take over. "Please, Chaos"she pleaded, tears in her eyes, needing to have some control over this moment.

 

[Chaos Zhefarovich]

Alana looked like she might have been in some sort of frozen moment, just staring at the ring. Her eyes narrowed at him, and Chaos looked away immediately. Was she going to say no? Chaos would not know what to think if she said no. He would likely get upset, and he did not want that to happen to them. However, scooted to the edge of the bed and practically demanded him to do this properly. Chaos was a little stunned because he was expecting a no, a slap or anything. Then she pleaded, and noticed that there were tears within her eyes. Chaos gave a curt nod, and moved over and off the bed. This was it. He knelt down on his knee, and held the ring in front of him, while reaching for the left hand. Chaos cleared his throat, and spoke softly, "Alana Ruby Finch, would you do me the honor of marrying me, a little earlier, opposed to the families' plans?" At least this way, they would have some sort of control over when they were married. It would never change the fact that they were doomed to be together, but with this, they could at least choose when. He was not even seventeen yet, but he would be in February. They could be married during the next break. He would have to ask Hades if he could be the one to do it, since he was the only priest within the family able to marry.
​

 

[Alana Finch]

The witch watched as Chaos got down on his knee fairly quickly, seeming to understand without her having to voice it specifically that this was important to her. As he reached for her hand, Alana noted to herself that this was the first time they'd done so, or if not, this was the first they'd done so voluntarily. Alana kept her gaze on that, her hand loosely in his as he spoke. The teenager was surprised by the sentimentality of his words, having expected him to just get right to the point. She certainly hadn't expected talk of honor, and she especially hadn't expected that he'd want to defy both of their families who had scheduled their wedding for the summer after Alana would graduate. Chaos liked Alana in a way that she was sure she didn't feel, but they would have to do this eventually regardless of her feelings.

As she mulled over what he'd said, Alana found that she liked it more and more. It had taken Chaos long enough to jump on the 'screw you' bandwagon she'd been on for ages, and even though it wasn't exactly the act of defiance she'd once expected to be part of, she found that she liked the idea enough to agree. With a shaky breath, Alana sat up tall and gave Chaos a curt nod. "Yes" she stated firmly, a smirk growing on her face at the idea forming in her head regarding their nuptials. "I will" she finished as Chaos pushed the ring onto her finger.

The End​