A Christmas surprise

She had finally finished unpacking her suitcase when she laid back on her bed. It was nice being in her own room again. The holiday season was her favorite time of year precisely because she knew she would get to go home again. And it was one of the rare moments when her whole family was together. She hoped to avoid all of the awkwardness and tension between her family now. The last time she saw her parents they were yelling and shouting at each other in the headmaster's office. It wasn't a pretty sight to see.

Now it has been weeks since they've talked to each other. Alice still needed to apologize properly for what she did, but somehow she couldn't find strength for that. She feared that even bringing up the subject would create a mess. So she just ignored that it ever happened for now, even though she knew she couldn't do that forever.

Andrei had been trying to get into the Longbottom estate for an hour now. Damn Alice's family and their protective shields. The only other house he knew which had this much protection around it was well his. And that was mainly from the Aurors that still tracked his family on a regular basis. Family inheritance sure works in a fun way. What were the Longbottoms so afraid about? Well everything, he supposed. For a good reason as well. He finally got through the last shield and entered the yard. He could feel his muscles sore and even bruise from all of the spells he had to endure. But he was here now and it was worth it.

He counted the windows to find Alice's one. He remembered she said it was the third one to the right. And of course it had to be on the second level of the house. Climbing was never an option for him, that was why he brought his broom in the first place. He flew up to her window and knocked gently on it. "Hey! Let me in!", Andrei said a bit louder with another knock on the window. But no one answered. He glanced inside and saw no one. With a smile spell, he unlocked the window and placed his feet carefully on the edge before throwing himself inside.

Alice had just closed her eyes when she heard a slight knocking sound on the window. When she went to look, no one was there. she must have just imagined it. She went back to bed and closed her eyes again. It was so nice finally having to rest and relax. Hearing another tap, she decided to ignore it. There was nothing out there after all, and she didn't want to disturb her relaxed state. Suddenly the window opened forcefully and a person flew in from the outside.

Alice screamed at the top of her lungs and jumped on her feet. "Expulso!" she said without much thought as she pointed her wand at the figure in front of her. How could someone get into their house? And a bigger question was, who would want to? She grabbed her wand tightly as she prepared herself for a battle. She wasn't going to let a stranger come into her home and hurt her family, and especially ruin Christmas for them all. But as the figure came closer, she recognized the raven hair and the blue eyes immediately. "Andrei?! Oh my gosh I am so sorry! Are you insane?" she shouted rushing towards him and trying to help him up.

He knew he was intruding, he was even well aware that he was coming to her house uninvited. But still he had expected at least some kind of warm welcoming. A scream and a blasting spell in his face was not something he would put in that list. Completely unprepared, her spell made him fly back to the closet and hit the wall hard. He slid down as he moaned slightly. Damn it his arm hurt like hell now. He was on the floor when he heard Alice's normal voice of panic as she rushed to him.

"Well hello to you too. It's nice to see you again, Alice", he said with a painful chuckle. She helped him up and he somehow managed to sit on her bed next to her. "Sorry it's my fault. I should have told you I was coming or sent an own or something. I just wanted to surprise you that's all. I almost died even trying to come into your house. Do you know it's probably even better protected than Hogwarts?", he asked with a laugh. "And then I almost died trying to see you. But it was worth it, seems like all of those lessons paid off", Andrei said with a proud grin. He was happy of her reaction actually, in that perfect.

"I brought you a present", he said pushing a small red box into her lap. "Go ahead open it".

She pulled him by his hand and placed him on the bed. "I'm so sorry! I really didn't think it was you! I thought....well I'm not sure what I thought really. That someone was breaking into our house. So I just reacted to that I guess" said Alice trying to apologize. Although she wasn't sure how to apologize for blasting him into her wall. "Oh yeah, that's just my dad. He likes to make sure everything is safe" she said laughing, imagining him trying to get thought the many shields her dad put around this house. "But yeah, see I did good! Although it wasn't fair really because you were caught of guard. But sill, good practice I would say" she said chuckling.

Staring at the box in her lap, she didn't know what to do. Why did he buy he a present? Was she supposed to buy him one as well? Because she didn't! And how could she accept his now, it would just feel wrong. "You shouldn't have done that, Andrei. Really" she said softly still staring at the box. But she had to admit that she was curious about it. "What is it?" she asked lifting the box up into her hands to see how heavy it is. She definitely didn't deserve it after injuring him like this.

"It's fine. I'm just glad I made it here alive. Apparently your father is not the only deadly person in this family", he said with a teasing smirk. He saw the way she was looking at his present and he knew she wanted to open it, but she was probably just too shy. "Here, let me show you", said Andrei as he took the red box in his hands. He carefully unwrapped the paper around it and opened it's lid. Inside was a small black bracelet that had an unusual shape. It was the same snake shape he gave her as a necklace, but this time it swirled around her wrist and had black diamonds all across it's skin.

"May I?", he asked just to be polite but he didn't wait for an answer. The bracelet had to go on her left arm, he knew that well. But her dad's protective colorful one was already there. Aware that it will only be in the way of his magic, he slowly took it off and put his instead there. Looking up, he waited to see her reaction. "So? Do you like it?", he asked with a smile. "I picked it out so it would match the necklace I gave you perfectly. I see your still wearing it", Andrei noticed with a grin. With both the necklace and the bracelet, he would see the effect on her double very quickly.

Everything was going accordingly as he planned, but one thing that worried her was her nightmares. He was told it could create serious problems like uncontrolled insanity and paranoia. But he was determined to fix this by himself. If he paid close attention to it, it couldn't get that out of hand. "Are you sleeping well Alice?", he asked softly.

Alice glanced curiously at the box as he opened it and she gasped as she saw a beautiful bracelet. The first thing she felt was guilt. Would she really allow him to buy her such an expensive present while she didn't even try to find something for him. But hey how was she supposed to know they were exchanging presents for Christmas. Not like Andrei told her he wants to be a part of the secret Santa thing. "I wouldn't think you would even consider that. Or any guy for that matter" she said with a chuckle when he told her he bought it to match her necklace. But when she looked at it more closely, he was right. Those two things matched perfectly in fact.

He asked for her permission to put it on, but didn't bother to wait for her answer. She felt a bit bad for having to take off her father's present. Usually she would never take things like that off. She would ware them until they ripped or grew old of age. But she didn't have much time or a chance to fuss about it. Besides, her eyes were too concentrated on the bracelet he was putting on her wrist. It fitted her perfectly and it looked even more amazing. She looked up and realized she didn't even know how to thank him. Leaning in, she placed a small simple kiss on his cheek. "Thank you. It's wonderful. I didn't get you anything though"

She bit her lip when he asked about her nightmares and instantly decided to tell him the truth. "I'm not getting a lot of sleep to tell you the truth. That's why I laid down to take a nap, I was just so tired. I'm not sure why but I think it's getting worse now. It's silly really that I even pay attention to it" said Alice shrugging her shoulders.

He laughed at her words precisely because she was right. The last thing Andrei would normally pay attention was matching a girl's bracelet and necklace. He was good at many things, but putting colors together wasn't one of them. "Yeah I really wanted them to work well together that's all", he explained to her with a chuckle. What Alice didn't know however that the reason those two jewelry pieces matched so perfectly was because they were made by the same person and from the same material. A special request of his that had proved to be worth investing in.

"You don't have to worry about that. You don't need to get me anything. I'm just happy you like it. This isn't a present per say, it's just something I wanted to give you. Think of it that way", said Andrei.

He listened to her story about her sleeping habits and he didn't like it one bit. This meant it was getting even worse. Perhaps this bracelet wasn't the best idea after all. It can push her out of control because of the double effect. But the man had told him he had perfected it this time, that it would work better. It would be more easier to control. Hopefully that was the truth as it was too late to back out of this now. "Alice - ", he started with a sigh. Despite everything, he had became quite fond of the girl. She had a bright future ahead of her with his guidance. She was now like his little sister in some way.

"Are you taking anything for that? To help you sleep better. Because there are a few things I can give you if the normal kind of medication doesn't work. Perhaps it can help", he offered. Being well familiar with potions and with his mother's cabinet as well, he was quite certain he could help her symptoms if she'd allow it. "Look I brought a few things just in case you needed it", Andrei said as he predicted this problem a long time ago. Besides, this was not the first time she had complained about this problem. He took out a few potions bottles and powders and placed it on her table. "Do you get scared though? From your nightmares I mean", he asked suddenly.

Alice raised her head as he called her name. She could clearly see the worried expression on his face and that bothered her. She hated when people worried about her. It just made her feel guilty about so many things and then she would try and do things differently simply to make that person not worried anymore. Her parents worried about her way too much, especially her father. But that might be because she was the youngest in the family and the only daughter. But then again she was somehow use to their worry, it was a common thing. But she wasn't use to Andrei behaving like this and she didn't like it at all.

"It's not that bad" said Alice shaking her head, trying to sound convincing as possible. She had now wished she didn't say anything about it in the first place. After all, it was silly complaining so much just because of a few nightmares. She wasn't a kid anymore and doing things like these made her seem even more childish than before.

She stared at the medications on the table. She didn't like to use potions and things like that honestly. Even when she was sick or in pain. Something about then just made her feel uneasy. But potions for sleeping had to be harmless right? She was getting quite annoyed at her sleeping patterns right now and would only be tired and grumpy the whole day. If it would help her than maybe she should take them. "I'm not taking anything right now. I guess I could try some of these..." Alice said taking the bottles into her hands and examining each of them.

Her head turned sharply when he asked his question. At first she didn't know how to respond. She was afraid that if she said the truth, she would be viewed as weak and just plain silly. "Sometimes." she admitted honestly. "They are quite strange you know, my nightmares. It doesn't feel like I'm sleeping but as if I'm floating around a dark space. I know it sounds silly and I don't blame you if you think I'm crazy"

With his limited and rather typical experience with girls, a few words or sentences they would say could instantly raise a red flag. Alice's 'it's not that bad' did exactly that for him. He sighed and shook his head, unsatisfied with his own progress in this field. This should have been solved a long time ago, when it first started. When it was much easier to control and reverse. But he was just hearing of this now, at least seriously. He was more disappointed at himself, for taking this whole thing lightly. Now he had a lot of damage control to do.

"Try this one. It should help you go to sleep right away. Just take one thought because it's strong enough", he suggested. That could perhaps ease the nightmares a bit but it would still be treating the problem and not getting rid of it.

Andrei listened to her talk attentively. The last time he brought up this subject, she wouldn't say a word about it. Perhaps she trusted him more now, which was a definitely good sign for him. "I don't think you're crazy Alice. On the contrary. Dreams like that would freak me out completely. I would probably be a much bigger baby and whiner than you. Don't judge me", he said with a playful smirk.

"But hey come on, I don't think you should really worry about it. It will go away. Sooner rather than later I suppose", Andrei said softly. He gently pulled her closer to him and let her head rest on his chest. It was more than just soothing Alice now. He had to protect her, that was his job. He was her leader and in a way she was his legacy. The proof of what he could truly achieve. And that had to be protected. "I want to help, really. Just tell me how"