Stepping out of his home into the bitter cold he walked along the sidewalk. The wind picked up the snow and swirled it around sending a chill down his back as little flakes fell upon his neck. Armed with a sack of broken things, discarded clothing and his Christmas "Dinner", scraps from the table it what they were but it will work he thought it should be enough.
Bringing out his wand and giving it a wave in the air a loud *BANG* was the response. "Welcome to the Knights Bus!" came the cheery voice "Emergency transportation for the stranded witch or wizard, My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor this evening" looking up for the first time he said aloud "Oh it's you is it, where to this time?" "Someplace that will have a lot of wizards, Diagon Alley?"
"Don't you know nothing? Stonehenge it's the pilgrimage site during winter solstice it is." Frowning at the boy "didn't your parents teach ya nothing?" shaking his head he spoke to the conductor "No sir, they never did"
With a deep sigh Stan raised his voice "Another for Stonehenge Erin" and with a bang they were off.
Moments later (or was it weeks, traveling on the knights bus was never a pleasant experience) he arrived at his destination. Thanking Erin and Stan for the lift he jumped off the bus and took in his surroundings. Thousands of wizards gathered around a blazing bonfire. Much eating and drinking was going around. Talk of Magic rebirth and the love of Mother magic was every where but our lad had a Different mission this night.
Finding a darken area near the Wizards and witches but still out of view he set out his bag of spoiled treasures. One by one he pulled them out of the bag and inspected them. And put them into 2 piles. Pulling out his wand and praying to the gods he would not get caught he started his spell work.
"Reparo" "Scourgify" with the occasional "Tergeo" for the really hard areas. Over and over again. About 20 minutes later his first task was complete. 48 items good as new sitting in from of him. He smiled at a job well done.
He was sweating with the effort he had just put forward but he could not rest for long. Sitting back and watching the event in front of him he realized that before him were Witches and Wizards from all walks of life. With all the strife that was going on in the world how could this be happening here? Malfoy standing and talking Weasley without a fight brewing between the two?
"Quite the sight is it not?" came a voice from nowhere.
Our adventurous young wizards jumped and spun around to see a very old man sitting on a older stone bench behind him.
"Every year for as far back as Magic allows us to remember this night about all is without malice. It brings out Hope, Love, Unity." Then the old man sighed "If only we could do that the rest of the year." The young wizard nodded in sad agreement.
"So young and you have learned that already, Yes?" the old man looked at him with sad surprise
A soft whisper of an answer came out of "Yes sir."
"Ahh, I see" the old man slowly closed his eyes and then got up. He grasped his staff and started walking towards the festival. "Join me young sir?" he questioned the boy
"Nay, not tonight sir" the boy looking at the event longingly "I have other pressing things to finish tonight"
The old man nodded and continued to walk "Then I bid you a fare Solstice young wizard"
Our Wizard went about and wrapped his treasures individually and placed them back in his bag one by one. Rising up and picking up his sack he watched the Bon fire in all its warmth and joy, the people milling about cheerful and happy even if it was for this short time, they were together as one in one celebration of Magics rebirth.
"If only" he whispered and walked away towards the outer boundary.
Rising his wand once again and summoning the Knight's Bus With a bang the bus appeared. "Welcome to the Knights…oy it's you again?"
"Yes sir" he spoke to Stan "I need to go to London please."
"Tis late boy, don't ya think maybe ya family might be getten worred 'bout ya?"
The boy shook his head no "My family won't notice a thing Stan"
"Oh.. aye, To London then Erin!"
The ride was much shorter or so it felt to the boy because he was lost in thoughts of the old man and the festival he had left behind. It was warmth he had felt there. He would remember that warmth in the days to come.
After getting to London he walked for a few hours looking for his finial destination. Upon his arrival he looked up at the aged sign "Wools Orphanage"
Throwing his father's cloak over himself he walked up the steps. It was old but clean in serious disrepair but serviceable. the door was locked but with a quick twist of his pocket knife the door opened. He sneaked up the flight of stairs to the dorms and looked inside. 12 beds aside 24 boys. His dreams were right. Slowly he approached each bed and as quietly as he could he took one of the gifts he had labored so hard to get and repair. He placed the gift at the foot of the bed and moved to the next. He continued this until he had completed the entire room. Smiling to himself he closed the door and went to the other side of the stairwell to the girl's dorm.
Looking in this room he noted the same arrangement 12 aside. He slowly repeated his gift giving to each child in the room till he came to the last bed. In this bed lay a pretty little girl with the blackest of hair and palest of skin. But what caught his attention the most was that she was looking right at him.
"Are you a ghost like the story we heard tonight?" the innocent whisper came to him.
Looking into those Amber eyes he smiled and said "You can see me?" he asked
She shook her head slowly and said "Just your hand.."
"Oh, No not a ghost" he smiled "Just a helper"
"Helper?" she stated with a puzzled look on her face "Who's helper?"
"Oh, just a Mother that wanted to make sure that you knew that you were Loved, even if you only knew it for one night, that you were Loved for everything that you are." Our boy whispered to the little girl.
The little girl smiled and looked up to the ceiling "Loved" she whispered wistfully. With a smile she closed her eyes and he whispered back as he pulled her blanket over her tucking her in. "and I Love you too, Merry Christmas sweetheart"
Turning away and walking away he slowly closed the door behind himself making his way to London.
AN: This is my first and it was the work of one day. It was a thought that would not leave my head. Yes, I know some things won't fix the story line and Yes I know that Orphanages were stopped in favor for Foster Care.