Author's Notes: Scooby Doo and all related characters and trademarks are copyright 2012 Hanna Barbera Productions/Cartoon Network/Warner Brothers/Boomerang. I am not, nor do I ever plan on making any money off writing this story, I am but merely a humble fan.

In addition, this story is set following the New Scooby Doo Mysteries episode "A Nutcracker Scoob", and includes some references to that particular episode.

So if you are reading this story and are unsure of what's going on, I would suggest rewatching that episode as a primer for this story(of course that's your choice and you don't have to if you don't want to, but it is suggested if you want to follow along with this fan fic).

Chapter 1

The December snow fell softly and silently outside a large, old fashioned building somewhere in the Northeastern United States.

This particular building was quite special however, despite its age, and outward appearance. The building dated back to the late 1800s, and featured beautiful glass windows, as well as a solid brick façade, which indicated that the structure would more then likely stand for hundreds of years to come, as it had already.

But the outside of the building wasn't as important, or quite as important as the inside of the building, and what purpose it served. The particular function this structure served was that it contained something that was very important to the community, something that if was closed, would create sadness and woe among a large number of people.

This particular building served as a home for orphan, runaway and forgotten children, which was more then a worthwhile cause to all who worked there.

But there was one man who didn't think so, a man named Winslow Nickelby. Winslow Nickelby was an elderly man who lived in a large mansion, specifically a few miles away from the aforementioned children's home.

Mr. Nickelby was a wealthy man, hence the fact that he resided in an expensive and ancient mansion. However, Mr. Nickleby despite his wealth and extravagant home, was not as happy as you might expect someone in his position to be.

Because of his personality, and because of his age, he was looked upon as a miser by many, similar to Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens famous novel A Christmas Carol.

Mr. Nickelby, like Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge not only was a miser, and was looked upon by all who knew him as rather eccentric, and mean. In addition to his personality, there was something else Mr. Nickelby shared with Mr. Scrooge, something that really made him sort of a crotchety old man as it were.

Mr. Nickelby, like Mr. Scrooge hated Christmas with an absolute passion. But while Ebenezer Scrooge was shown the light, and the goodness and joy that Christmas could bring by three spirits, Mr. Nickelby could thank a group of children, and some young adults and dogs for his change of heart.

Earlier in the month, these young adults, and their two canines volunteered at the children's home, and in the process helped out with a Christmas play, made some new friends, and even solved a ghostly mystery in the process.

For you see the young adults that assisted at the home were five of the members of the detective agency known unofficially as the Scooby Doo detective agency, and sometimes Mystery Incorporated.

Specifically speaking the members of the group that helped out during the month of Christmas were a blond haired youngster named Fred Jones, a beautiful red head named Daphne Blake, a chicken hearted, but kind young man named Shaggy Rogers, and two canines named Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo.

These young adults and their canines while helping out with a Yuletide pageant stumbled upon a mystery involving a ghost, a missing emerald, and one elderly miser named Winslow Nickelby.

At first the members of the detective agency thought Winslow Nickelby might be involved with said ghost, because he wanted to tear down the children's home and search for the emerald.

However, after some investigating and a confrontation and chase during the Christmas pageant, Mystery Incorporated unmasked the holiday specter. As it turns out, the ghost in question was really Mr. Nickelby's maid, a woman named Nanette Musette, who wanted the emerald for her own selfish reasons.

Now with the ghostly mystery solved, and Winslow Nickelby surprisingly turning over a new leaf, and actually helping out with the children's home every so often, things could return to normal around the home.

But even though things returned to normal around the home, there was still a story to be told. Perhaps the story was more interesting then the one involving the ghost, the missing emerald, and the miser, and perhaps it was not.

However, this story went much deeper then a mere mystery, and it involved much more then a simple group of young adults and their two canines. It involved romance, it involved love, and most important of all: it involved a life long friendship, which was about to be put to the test.

Author's Notes: I wasn't sure if I wanted to make this a one chapter fan fic, but after some thought, I decided to make this multiple chapters, in order to get more in depth into the story.

Also, I know the first chapter seems kind of boring, considering it just describes the actual mystery from the episode this story is based on. However, I promise the fic will get much better and much more interesting in chapter 2(which will come as soon as I write it