Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. All rights go to respective owners.
This oneshot is written for Lexi (Book of Hope) as a Christmas present. Happy holidays! #TeamCastelobruxo
A Christmas Tale
There once was a young girl, who was a powerful witch. She took pleasure in summoning books from across the room, out of the hands of her older brothers. She made games out of how many objects she could levitate at one time. Her smile lit up whatever room she was in, her very presence a breath of fresh air.
Then one day, when this witch was very little, a Bad Thing happened. In response, she tried to repress her magic. She was very strong and held it in for a long time. But soon, it began lashing out and she realized her mistake. The path she had chosen only led to pain and brought her sorrow.
But this story is not about that.
No, this story takes place before the Bad Thing and when her family, and her mind, were whole. This is the story of a little girl with magic, who desperately wanted to meet Santa Claus.
.oOo.
"Santa gives toys to every good kid? Even the ones in Canada?"
Aberforth coughed to cover up his laughter at his sister's question. There were times he didn't understand how her five-year-old mind worked.
"Uh-huh. Every kid, no matter where they live," he replied with a smile.
"And coal to the bad kids?" Ariana questioned.
"Yep," Aberforth nodded.
"But," Ariana frowned, "how does he do it all in one night?"
Aberforth grinned wider. He could answer that question! "He's got magic, flying reindeer, of course!" he exclaimed. "And he can charm chimneys wider, so he can fit through them with the presents!"
Ariana stared at her brother. He watched as her eyes went from glowing with excitement to slowly narrowing in suspicion. Apparently coming to some sort of conclusion, she hopped off the chair she had been sitting on in Aberforth's room and walked out.
"Al!" she shouted. "Al! Ab's lying to me!"
Aberforth heard her make her way towards the staircase, still calling for their brother.
"Am not!" he shouted after her. Running to catch up to Ariana, he ran straight into his older brother, Albus, in the hallway.
"Ab," Albus sighed good-naturedly, "what's going on?"
"Nothing!" he quickly explained. "I just told her stories about Santa and now she's saying that I'm lying!"
Albus looked at his brother with an amused expression.
"Well, that won't do," he remarked. "We'll just have to change her mind, won't we?"
Aberforth met his brother's gaze and saw a plan forming in Albus' thoughtful expression. Slowly smiling, Aberforth asked him one important question:
"How can I help?"
It turned out that, convincing Ariana that Santa was indeed real, was much easier than the two brothers had thought. Really, they had sat her down and Albus confirmed everything Aberforth had said.
What they didn't realize was that in doing so, they would create a monster.
.oOo.
"Can we go and meet Santa?" Ariana begged one morning at breakfast in late November. "Please! I promise I've been good!"
"And that you have, sweetie," her mother said soothingly. "But how would we get to the North Pole?"
"We could borrow one of Santa's reindeers!" she replied quickly. Aberforth and Albus had already explained that it was impossible to floo or apparate to the North Pole — all those ancient wards and such — so she had been thinking of other ways.
Her mother raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think he needs all of them? Especially the closer it gets to the holidays?"
Ariana felt a little bit of her hope and excitement vanish.
"I'll never meet Santa," she mumbled under her breath, close to tears.
"How about this, pumpkin," her father interrupted from across the table. "Why don't you send a letter to Santa? I'm sure he knows what you want for Christmas, but it might be nice to tell him regardless."
"Really?" Ariana asked, immediately feeling a spark of excitement again.
"Sure," her father nodded. "Write the letter and we can send it immediately."
A spare piece of parchment, ink, and a quill zoomed from various places around the house and landed in front of Ariana. Grinning excitedly, she gathered up the supplies and skipped up to her room — completely ignoring the bemused expressions from her family.
.oOo.
Dear Santa,
My name is Ariana Dumbledore. I'm five.
All I want for Christmas is to meet you. My brothers told me cool stories about you.
Love,
Ari
.oOo.
It was Christmas Eve and Ariana was beside herself with worry and excitement.
"Stop it, Ab!" she cried. "The cookies are for Santa!"
Ab grinned sheepishly and their mother swatted the cookie out of his hand.
"Listen to your sister," she said. "And stop antagonizing her!"
Ariana tilted her head. "What's am-tag- that, mean?"
"Antagonize," her mother repeated. "It means that someone is trying to make you upset by doing certain things."
"Yeah, Ab!" she shouted at her brother. "Don't am-on-a-gize me!"
.oOo.
Ariana awoke sometime later that night. She lay still her bed, staring into the darkness and trying to figure out what had wakened her, when she heard it. Her heartbeat sped faster as she listened to the sound draw closer.
It was sleigh bells.
Jumping out of bed, she ran down the hall into Aberforth's room. He was sound asleep on top of all of the covers on his bed.
Wasting no time, Ariana shook his shoulder and shouted his name.
"Ab! Wake up! It's Santa! Ab!"
But he didn't wake up. Neither did Al or her parents when she tried to wake them. They all slept soundly; they shifted slightly in their sleep, but never waking.
Ariana was leaving her parents' room when she heard the sleigh bells again. Although this time, they were louder and accompanied by the sound of clattering hooves on the roof.
He was here!
Rushing downstairs, she stopped just outside the living room entryway. All of a sudden, she felt nervous. What should she say to Santa? Maybe she could just say hi? Should she say anything else? She quickly determined 'hi' was a good place to start, and she could move on from there if needed.
Deciding that she would wait and watch for the opportune moment, she hide behind the couch. From there, she peeked around the edge. She watched in surprise as their fireplace magically expanded and a portly man with a white beard appeared.
The man was wearing a matching red hat and coat. He brushed the dust off his gloves and clapped his hands twice. A large sack filled with presents popped into existence at his side. This was real! Santa was really here!
Ariana watched as he ate the cookies and drank the glass of milk, all the while putting presents out under their Christmas tree. He filled their stockings with candy and small toys. When he finished, he clapped his hands twice again, which caused the bag to disappear.
Just as he was about to step into the fireplace, Ariana gasped. She suddenly realized that she had said nothing to him the entire time! Trying to work up the courage to say hello before he left, Ariana didn't realize that he had turned around to face her hiding spot.
"Ari?" he called out softly, his eyes light and voice jolly.
Slowly, Ariana stood up and smiled shyly at him. "Hello, Santa."
"Hello, Ari! What are you doing awake?" he asked, a smile on his face.
Ariana began to relax, realizing she wasn't in trouble for being awake. "I heard sleigh bells, Santa."
"Oh?" Santa asked. "Well, you must be a very special girl, Ari. Not all children can hear the sleigh bells."
"Really?" Ariana asked hopefully.
"Really," Santa nodded. "Now why don't you get back to sleep. You have a lot of presents to open in the morning."
"Yes, Santa!" Ariana turned and started to leave the room, before turning back around.
"Merry Christmas, Santa," she said breathlessly.
"Merry Christmas, Ari! Ho ho ho!"
And with that, Santa stepped back into the fireplace and disappeared. The fireplace shrunk back to its normal size. Ariana raced up the stairs and heard the sound of clattering hooves take off from the roof, sleigh bells loudly jingling.
As the sounds faded into the distance, Ariana thought she heard Santa one last time.
"Merry Christmas to all! And to all a good night!"
Word count, not including title and author's notes: 1386