author's note: Here's a bit of Christmas in July for you folks! Because let's face it, I want my snow back. Summer is too damn hot. Enjoy the bittersweet holiday stuff, seeing how Blue took place in early December. The story follows a timeline as you can see.

This chapter is a lot longer 'cause I wanted to make up for the short one and no Raven last time around.

Enjoy! :)

Raven kept her gaze focused on her reflection as she sat in front of her vanity and adjusted the white faux fur collar on her holiday gown. It seemed that by now, the whole Legacy Day fiasco had blown over, and the Christmas spirit was in full swing in the realms. No one could be bitter or cruel, not even if they tried. And of course, the halls of Ever After High were elegantly decorated to suit the season. Tonight was the school's Holiday Dance and everyone was excited.

In fact, the music from the grand hall could be heard all the way from the dorm rooms, where Raven was still nervous about going down.

Sure, she didn't start fires of chaos and fighting anymore like she used to, but she was skeptical. Maybe she could just stay here, open whatever gifts she got from her friends and eat the cookies Maddie had baked far too many of.

Besides, this dress her father had sent her was nice, it was itchy…

The snow outside was setting up the perfect White Christmas scene. It would almost be a crime not to go down and at least enjoy a few minutes. Raven stood up, and slid on her black pumps. She picked up the bag full of gifts she hadn't given yet, and patted down her hair to make it look a bit more presentable. The dark green highlights in her hair weren't exactly her favorite, but Maddie had insisted they looked cute, so Raven decided to relent. Besides, it was Christmas. No one really cared too much about looks; it was all about the traditional colors of red, green, white and gold. The sparkles were fun, anyway.

She twirled around in front of the mirror, for a small spark of confidence, and she smiled.

Who said she couldn't have a Merry Christmas too? After all, she couldn't hide in her room forever.

She made her way out, and ripped off the small list she had taped onto the bag. Those who had already been given their gifts were checked off, while only a few last people remained. Of course, Kitty had stolen her gift weeks ago, and it was hard for Raven to hide a present from Apple, her own roommate, so those were already done. Cedar had been given hers as well early, because Raven had actually bought it right in front of her, so there was no use in a surprise. As for Maddie, she was ridiculously good at pulling puppy eyes.

All that was left was Cerise, Cupid, Lizzie and Dexter.

Easy enough. Raven decided she would mingle and dance for a while after she gave out the gifts and then head back to her dorm. Besides, it was getting late and like other students, she had a carriage to catch tomorrow morning to spend Christmas back home.

Raven smiled when she made her way to the top of the grand golden staircase at the end of the hall that towered over the main event. Everything was perfectly set up, while students and teachers alike celebrated the holiday. For once, Sparrow and the Merry Men weren't playing crazy screamo music, and they didn't do half-bad as they played a pop rock version of the most famous Christmas songs. Thankfully, it looked like Ashlynn had volunteered to sing a few songs to set a more calming scene. It was all wonderful; and the sweet scent of cinnamon and sugar was in the air.

Treats, decorations, presents: the superficial parts of Christmas were definitely fun.

A very familiar giggle was heard, and Raven heard her name called. She looked down, and laughed when she saw Maddie waving her arms like a crazy person.

She made her way down the ivory steps, and greeted a few of her fellow students. Most were cheerful enough to return the feeling, but one or two still had the cold shoulder. Fortunately, Raven saw Lizzie sitting by the window, on her own, watching the snow fall.

"Hey, Lizzie," Raven spoke up. "Merry Christmas." She reached into her bag, and pulled out the gift she had brought.

Lizzie looked genuinely surprised as she looked at the box. "Merry Christmas, Raven. Thank you," she replied as she reluctantly took the gift. "I - I'm sorry, I didn't think that you would get me anything, otherwise-"

Raven smiled. "It's ok. Go on, open it," she smiled.

Lizzie raised an eyebrow, hesitant for a moment, but when she pulled off the wrapping, she broke out into a wide grin when she saw what it was. It was a snowglobe, with the Queen of Hearts' castle inside the tiny glass shell. When she shook it, bright red glitter fell down. "This is beautiful," she murmured.

"I know how much you, Maddie and Kitty miss home," Raven explained. "So I got custom ones for each of you."

"I… I appreciate it," Lizzie said softly. "Thank you," she repeated.

Raven returned the grin and began the rest of her trek down the long staircase. It gave her a perfect view of the whole entire dance, where everyone was having fun. There was no such thing as a glum mood on this most wonderful day of the year.

She didn't know why she even hesitated coming down here. Everything really was perfect.

In fact, even the Headmaster had the smallest of smiles, or something that resembled it. That was a for sure good sign.

The mix of high school and holidays was a strangely harmonious one. Raven liked seeing all of the students together; they were friends, no matter what. But any other typical school day, most of the time, it wasn't that way. If Christmas was what it took to keep everyone together and realize that stories weren't boundaries, then she wished that it was Christmas everyday.

On the other hand, that might take away the magic.

As Raven headed over to the snack table for a cinnamon roll and some hot chocolate, she noticed a familiar flash in the corner of her eye: brown, blue and were those glasses she saw? She looked over her shoulder, but maybe it was all in her head.

Ever since the holiday season had started up, she had barely seen Dexter outside of school; and even then, he was distant.

She couldn't help but wonder why.

"There you are!" Maddie piped up as she tackled her best friend into a hug. "You're an hour late!"

"Sorry," Raven said, with a soft laugh. She took a bit of the cinnamon roll, and eyed the dancefloor. "Did I miss anything?"

"Well, aside from the really awkward time where Mr. Badwolf and Mrs. Her Majesty The White Queen got stuck under the mistletoe, nope," Maddie replied. "He looked so embarrassed, though! He couldn't kiss her." She laughed, and pulled out her cell phone. "Look, Blondie even filmed it!"

Raven shook her head playfully as she watched the five second clip full of laughter in the background. She wiped a bit of icing off of the side of her mouth, and peered into her bag. "Speaking of Badwolf, have you seen Cerise?" she asked.

Maddie cocked her head to the side. "What does Mr. Badwolf have to do with Cerise?" she inquired.

Raven stammered, and hesitated. "Well, y'know, he's the villain in her story," she said quickly. "And I didn't give her my gift yet."

Maddie nodded, apparently convinced. "She left the party early, she wanted to celebrate with just her mom," she explained. "You could give it to her when she gets back, I guess." She took a gingerbread cookie from the tray, and bit the head off. "You know, it's more humane to eat them this way, so that way, their poor little gingerbread bodies don't suffer while you enjoy the yumminess."

"Ok then," Raven said slowly. She noticed a sparkle of purple magic, and a piece of mistletoe was sitting on the table. "Don't hold back on my account, Kitty. But don't be surprised if Grimm catches you soon."

"Always the downer," Kitty's sweet melodic voice trilled as she poofed into midair.

She held the famous holiday plant up and stole a kiss from Maddie, then dissolving into thin air quickly as she came.

Maddie giggled like a fool, and chased after the floating glitter.

Raven chuckled at how adorable at her friends were, all in love and being romantic in the only silly way they knew. She glanced back to her gift bag, and scanned her gaze around the hall. Best to give gifts first, then have her fun. She noticed Cupid not so far away, and waved the girl over.

Cupid floated over with her feathery wings failing a little; she still had to get used to flying.

"Merry Christmas," Raven said, as she held out the pink box.

"Same to you," Cupid grinned. She took an envelope out of her pocket and held it out. "Sorry, it's only a gift card. I wasn't sure what to get you, so there's twenty-five dollars worth of coffee at the Hocus Cafe."

"Thanks," Raven replied. "I knew a lot of people keep breaking the case to your arrows so-"

Cupid ripped open the gift, and broke out into a wide smile as she shakily landed onto the tile floor. "A digital one? Really?" she beamed. She pressed the keypad, testing out for a passcode. "This is perfect!"

Raven winked playfully. "And it's not glass," she added.

"I didn't realize how much I needed one of these," Cupid joked. She heard commotion on the other end of the hall, and she sighed. "Cheshire and that stupid mistletoe again…"

Without even saying goodbye, she fluttered off.

Raven laughed as she heard one of Kitty's loud hisses, followed by a few people arguing. She had to admit; that trickster did have a twisted sense of humor, but it was still funny most of the time. She took a sip of her hot cocoa and softly hummed along to the rhythm of the Christmas carol. A few boys and girls were slow-dancing, while the other students goofed off and swapped presents.

...then suddenly, Raven noticed Dexter clearly this time. He was by the stage, sitting alone, pulling at the collar of his sweater.

Despite how hilariously horrible the shirt looked, Raven still thought he was cute.

She felt a blush creep up, and she self-consciously adjusted her dress. Normally, she wouldn't dress up for anyone, but Dexter wasn't really anyone…

As Raven made her way across the hall, she handed the second-to-last to Mr. Badwolf. When he saw the red wrapping, he nodded, and Raven gave a thumbs-up. Keeping a secret was easier said than done, she thought to herself. She wondered how he had done it all these years.

But that was a question for another time.

Raven walked to the table, and gave a small wave.

"Hi," she said softly. "Is anyone else sitting here?"

"Uh, well-" Dexter stammered, and stuttered, adjusting his glasses. He cleared his throat, and scratched the back of his neck. "N-no. Just me. You can hang out, i-if you really want to, or, uh… whatever."

"Cool," Raven murmured, as she gave him a halfhearted smile that he didn't return.

That was weird. Dexter was always jittery about something around her, but not like this.

She hesitated, and carefully took the last present out from her bag.

"I got this for you," she spoke up. "It took a bit of asking around, because I didn't really know what you would want and-" She bit her tongue. She wasn't going to put in the fact that he had been ignoring for a few weeks now. "I didn't want to give you a lame gift card. That's all. Daring and Darling told me you were obsessed with some normie show or whatever. I special ordered it online so… Merry Christmas."

Dexter's eyes went wide in surprise. It was clear to see he didn't think Raven would put so much effort into a gift. Ordering from the normie realm was expensive, and a long wait. He almost took it, but recoiled his hand back.

"You didn't have to," he mumbled.

"I know," she said, with that same sweet smile. "But I wanted to."

"Well, I…" Dexter felt in his jeans pocket for the gift he had given her. "I guess I'll take it." He slid his gift for her out, and put it on the table. "Here."

Raven picked it up, and opened the small box. "A new mp3 player?" she asked.

Dexter nodded. "I made a playlist," he said bashfully. "Songs that made me think of you."

Raven gently ran her fingers over the silver buttons on the touch screen, and went through the titles. Ever Ever After by Carrie Underworld, A Thousand Years by Castina Perri, Set Apart This Dream by Fairyleaf, all songs she had never heard before listed under the pop rock genre.

"Thanks," Raven smiled.

Dexter still hadn't opened his gift. Instead, he just twirled the silver ribbon around his fingers, and fiddled with his glasses.

Raven cleared her throat, and reached into her bag one more time. She had a yellow rose in between her fingers, and she held it out. "I saw this in Environmental Magic class," she said. "Ever since Show and Spell day, Maid Marian has been telling me what certain roses mean. Yellow means friendship and it's a sign you care about someone."

"Oh," Dexter said softly as he took the rose. "Neat."

Raven swirled around the now cold chocolate drink in her cup. "I'm going to dance," she said, as a ballad began playing. "Want to join me?"

Dexter shook his head. "I'm not in the mood," he replied.

He nearly frowned when he noticed her expression fell.

"Well, if you want to join me, you can," Raven offered.

"Yeah, maybe," Dexter said wistfully.

She reluctantly got up and left him alone. Instead of dancing, she decided to head outside. The snow was now whipping around, and the wind was bitter cold. Raven literally shivered, and she let out a sigh as she looked out to the foggy horizon.

For the first time in this holiday season, she felt cold in the worst way possible.

She could only wonder why.

author's note: My plans for this was cuteness. It was, really. But I realized that Blue needed a sequel, so here it is! But I really do promise, the next chapter should be fluffy enough to stuff your pillows! :)

If you liked this chapter, please let me know what you thought with a review!