His house was ready for Christmas, but his mind was elsewhere. The tree was decorated with gifts piled beneath it. He even had some Christmas music playing in the background. He thought Elysia would like it when she arrived.
In the meantime, he had work to do. Curled up on the couch, he reviewed his files from work. The most pressing being the file of Bellatrix Black. Since she’d graduated from school she’d become more and more entrenched in the dark arts. He had been given her case, and told that it would be best to charge her before she took the Mark.
Kingsley had never expected to spend his evenings study files, but the Ministry was pushing him harder than he ever imagined. As He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named gained power, the Ministry scurried to provide safety to the magical community. Every day there seemed to be a new disaster to deal with.
The door opened in the kitchen, and he sat the file down. Elysia had arrived. He smiled. There would be no more work that evening. For it was Christmas Eve, and his beloved had managed to slip away. They were going to have their first holiday together.
He rushed into the kitchen to greet her. She bounded into his arms before he even had a chance to see her.
“Happy Christmas,” she cried, hugging him tightly.
“Happy Christmas,” he repeated, returning her embrace. “I’m so happy you could make it. What did you tell your father?”
“He’s spending Christmas with the Blacks,” she replied. “Lucius has really hit it off with young Narcissa. I guess there will be wedding bells one day. I simply told Father that I felt ill and wished to remain home. Bella knows where I am, of course, and will cover for me if anything come ups.”
Kingsley smiled slightly, but felt a bit ill himself. He’d hoped Elysia’s friendship with Bella would come to an end as her friend became more and more involved with dark magic. But true to her word, Elysia never left Bella’s side.
“So the night is ours,” she went one, pulling away from him and entering the loft. “What we do with it is up to us.”
She smiled at his simple tree and collapsed on the sofa beside it. Her eyes landed on the files, and Kingsley realized he had made a grave error.
“What are those?” she asked playfully. “You can’t really be working on Christmas Eve.”
She reached out for the papers.
“Really, they’re nothing,” he said. “You don’t want to talk about my job tonight. Come back to the kitchen. There’s eggnog.”
But it was too late. Looking into her eyes, he could tell that she knew. There was nothing he could do to hide the truth from her. He should’ve told her sooner. Maybe he could’ve made her understand.
“That’s Bella’s name,” she said, picking up the file. “Why do you have a file about my best friend?”
Her eyes widened as she read the words. Tears began to spill over. He had done the one thing he’d vowed never to do. He’d hurt Elysia Malfoy. Not only had he hurt her, he’d betrayed her. In that moment, he knew there would be no forgiveness.
“You’re investigating her,” she said, tears falling freely. “You’re trying to put my best friend in Azkaban. How could you do this to me? I can’t watch Bella suffer like that. I thought you understood that. I thought you understood me.”
“The case was assigned to me,” he said. “I had no choice.”
“No choice!” she cried. “You could’ve made this go away. You could’ve reported that she has no connection to the Dark Lord. You could’ve saved her.”
“Elysia, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” she cried, jumping to her feet and letting the file fall to the floor. “You’re sorry? You weren’t even going to tell me. You were just going to destroy my best friend. What did you think would happen?”
“Honestly,” he replied, feeling defeated, “I thought you would end that friendship. Bella is well on her way to becoming a Death Eater. I know you understand what that means. I can’t believe that you would stand by someone like that. I just assumed you’d understand, in the end.”
She shook her head at him. Tears still streaming. She began to shake. He approached her, wanting to offer comfort, but she pulled away, not even allowing him to touch her.
“I told you one thing before we got involved,” she said, her voice had turned cold. “I told you I would always love Bella, no matter what. I asked if you could handle that, and you said yes. When you agreed to that you agreed not to hurt her.”
“Elysia, I’m sorry.” His own voice cracked. “I never realized you would react this way. I didn’t think it would hurt you this badly. I’m sorry. I can do what you want. I can make this disappear. When I go back to work I’ll report that Bella has no ties to the dark arts. I’ll tell them it was all a mistake.”
Elysia shook her head. “It’s too late. This only shows me that you don’t know me at all. You don’t know me, and you don’t respect me. Otherwise, you would’ve never been able to go after Bella like that.”
“Please,” he said, hating the pleading tone in his voice.
“I’m sorry, Kingsley,” she replied, wiping away her tears. “I can’t stay. I can’t be with you anymore. But some of what you said was right. Bella is getting out of control. Sometimes she even scares me. I’ll always love her, and I’ll always support her, in anyway that I can. I just don’t think I can watch her go down that path. I’ve been struggling with it for a long time”thinking about leaving. I stayed because of you. Now, I think it’s time for me to go. I won’t forget you, but I can’t forgive you. I won’t stop believing in Bella, but I can’t help her anymore. I have to leave. Tonight.”
Kingsley stared at her. Her words wounded him somehow. This single action had cost him everything. Hell, it had cost Bella everything, too. Elysia was leaving. She wouldn’t be able to help either of them. If he had been strong, turned down the case, things might’ve worked out.
“Elysia,” he tried again.
She shook her head. “Goodbye, Kingsley.” And then she was gone, out the door without another word.
In shock, he sat alone on the couch, ignoring the scattered file on the floor. Instead, he reached into his pocket and stared at the small wrapped box. A tear came to his eye. He’d been so meticulous choosing the ring. He wanted it to be perfect. Now Elysia would never wear it, never see it, never marry him.
She'd left him--probably forever.