AN Hey, thanks for deciding to read this story. I was watching a film adaption of the classic yesterday and though of this story. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, the story belongs to Mr Dickens, the characters to Mr Martin.

A Christmas Carol

Joffrey Baratheon has been a naughty and arrogant boy for years. Now, fate decided to teach him a lesson. In the night before Christmas, he is visited by three ghost.

"Ah!" Joffrey yelled. His room was totally dark and he didn´t understand why he woke up in the first place. It seemed to be empty. Seemed. "Hello Joffrey", a voice said. He knew that voice, it was his uncles. "Uncle Tyrion, what the hell are you doing here?" he asked angrily. "I´m not your uncle, silly boy. I am the Ghost of Christmas Past, the first of three ghost that will visit you tonight, by the way." "Yeah, sure." The boy laughed sceptically. "Do you want to avenge Tommen? I know you´ve got a heart for losers." His uncle, or the ghost looking like his uncle, started laughing too. "Oh Joffrey, you really don´t want to believe it, you stupid boy. Well, give me your hand." "Why should I?" the blonde asked suspiciously. "Well, if I´m your uncle, you have nothing to fear right?" "Right." He gave the ghost his hand, and suddenly his room started changing. It was very fast, and he could swear he´d have seen people coming and going. When it stopped, his room was very unlike it was before. There were stuffed animals lying around, and a part of the floor was covered in Lego bricks. It was the room of his six year old self. "Well, let´s take a look at what´s happening downstairs." Joffrey followed the ghost downstairs, too astonished by what had just happened to say something. And there they were: the members of his family, about ten years younger then they were now. His mother, both her brothers, his father and his grandfather, all looking younger. Better then they did now. He was sitting next to the tree with his siblings. Myrcella was nearly four and Tommen one and a half. All the three of them were unpacking the presents their relatives brought, as they always did at Christmas Eve. The presents brought by "Santa" would be opened tomorrow morning. "A castle! A Lego castle! Oh, how I love Christmas!" the six year old Joffrey exclaimed. Then the scene changed again. The grown ups seemed not to have changed, but the children were older, two years each. Little Joffrey had just unpacked the last of his presents. "A Casterly Rock Lions jersey! Cool! I want to play for them when I´m older, just like you did, uncle Jamie!" he happily proclaimed. "No, you are not! You will be playing for the Storms End Stags, and the later for the Kings Landing Knights! You are a Baratheon, and Baratheons play for Storms End!" his father yelled. The older Joff knew what was about to happen. His father was totally drunk, and now he dumped the rest of his drink on his sons new jersey. "Well, it´s not that bad. Now we can get you a Stags jersey", he then said. Tears started running down his sons cheeks, and he ran away, upstairs into his room. "Well done, Robert!" his mother yelled angrily. "You destroyed your sons Christmas!" Tommen started crying and Myrcella looked like she would start too. The scene changed again. The Christmas three years later, when friends were invited to celebrate with them. It was the Starks first year in town, and Robert invited his old friends family. And there was his oldest son, eleven years old and already looking a lot like his uncle Jamie. On the other side of the open door, there was the ten year old Sansa Stark. The two of them were silently looking at each other when they were sure the other one would not notice. They finally met at the door frame, and when they were just about to start a conversation, it was his father who shouted: "Look! They´re standing under the mistletoe!" He could now also see both their mothers roll their eyes. "Come on Joff, get your first kiss!" How he hated his father when he was drunk. "Well, that´s it", the ghost said, and the room changed again to his modern state while they flew upstairs into his room, which looked like the one they had left. "That´s why I hate Christmas", the boy murmured. "Maybe you should think it over, don´t you think so? Goodbye, Joffrey!"

The second time he woke up, he was prepared, but still nervous about what might happen next. The thing that had visited him earlier was some kind if ghost trick, and the next would surely work out as well. "Hello, who-who´s there?" he asked. "It´s the Ghost of Christmas Present", another familiar voice told him. "Margaery? You are the ghost of Christmas Present?" "No", she said. "Because I´m not Margaery. We ghosts just decide on some familiar appearance, and I like this girls looks. But, you know, we should have begun by now, I´m a little late." She caught his wrist and they flew out he window. "Wh-where are we going?" "We are visiting some people you know, and how they are preparing for Christmas." They stopped by the town hall and gazed through a window in the ceiling. His friends, or classmates and acquaintances, were rehearsing for the play they would perform here tomorrow. "Okay, so who do we have?" the real Margaery Tyrell asked. "Well, we got the most awesome Joseph and Mary ever", Dany Targaryen said. "Yes, I know, you and Jon. Then we´ve got Willas and Robb as shepherds, right?" The two boys nodded. "And Quentyn, Loras and Joffrey, who quitted, as the kings. What are we supposed to do with just two kings to praise Jesus after his birth?" "You could take one of the girls", Quentyn suggested. "My sister or Meera, for example." She shook her head. "No, they haven´t got time. And Sansa is too busy behind the scenes." Sansa nodded. "I´m sorry for you, Margs, really. Maybe I could talk to Joffrey so he changes his mind", she said. "I could ask Theon", Robb told her. "That´d be good, thanks Robb. But Sansa, no, if someone talks to him, that´s me. It´s no problem, I think I can-" Her phone rang. "Margaery Tyrell here. Cersei? What? Yes but,- Okay, sure, I´m coming." She looked at her friends. "Trouble?" Robb asked. "Joffrey seems to have spoiled his siblings Christmas, and now Cersei wants me to fix it", his friend explained. "I´d better go, I´m sure hell is breaking loose." She grabbed her things and went out. "Is she-I mean, did my Mom call her? Because my siblings are sad?" The ghost looked at him. "That´s a question I was about to answer, but less likely sad then devastated", he, or she, or whatever, said. They flew back to the Baratheons house. His mother sat in the couch, looking like she would either start killing or crying. His father was drinking vodka, his grandfather walked through the living room in circles, and his uncle Tyrion was coming back down. "Sorry, I´ve done what I could, and I think Myrcella´s okay, but Tommen..." "Where´s uncle Jamie? I thought he wanted to come later?" The ghost pointed at the door, where the bell had just rang. His uncle entered the room, followed by someone. "Hey guys! How are you? Look, I´ve brought Brienne with me!" he called. "He, this party doesn´t seem to be as funny as usually." "Indeed", his brother exclaimed. "What happened? Wait, Cers, what is it? You look like someone killed one of your children!" He took a seat beside her and put one arm around her shoulder. "Tell me!" The bell rang again. It was Margaery, looking cold and sneezing. "Hello, Mrs Baratheon, Mr Baratheon, Mr Lannister", she said. "Is Tommen upstairs?" They nodded and she went that way. "Why´s the Tyrell girl here?" Jamie asked. "Is- Is this really happening? I mean, it´s not that bad, why are they all getting steamed up about this? I mean, Tommen is crying? He cries every now and then", Joffrey told the ghost. "But is it always that bad? How often does your mother have to call his beloved babysitter to calm him?" the ghost asked. While they went upstairs, the boy thought about this statement. "I think this only happened once before. And it was really bad", he mumbled. The ghost nodded. "You begin to understand what you did, that´s the first step on your road to redemption." "Road to redemption? What are you talking about? I don´t need to redeem myself!" he shouted. "We´ll see. Goodbye Joffrey, I hope we´ll never meet again." And the second ghost disappeared.

"Third ghost? Is-is this you?" Silence. "Hell-hello? Ghost?" In front of him a person in a long hooded cape appeared. "Um, hello, ghost. You are the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, right?" The ghost nodded. "What-what are you going to show me?" The ghost did not answer, he just bumped his long stick on the ground. Everything around them changed, then they were back at the town hall. It looked very much like before, the same people being circa the same age. "Where are we?" he asked when he recognised that they were dressed differently. The ghost pointed at a calendar hanging on the wall. It was next years Christmas. "Okay guys, let´s try it again!" Margaery shouted enthusiastically. Her oldest brother pressed a button and the Hi-Fi system started playing Kelly Clarksons Christmas hit from this year, or last year, to be precise. His friends took their positions for the dancing number they did this year. He noticed Margaery dancing with Robb Stark and Sansa dancing with Quentyn Martell. "Stop, stop! Robb, that´s not working, its left, left, right, front, okay?" "Margaery, this whole dancing thing is stupid, okay? I just do it to do you a favour because otherwise, one would be missing. And the hat you´re wearing makes it even more hilarious." "Oh, shut up you!" she shouted merrily. "Make me!" he teased. And she did, she just kissed him. "Willas, your sister knows how to treat men, I have to admit that", Theon Greyjoy said. Willas and Quentyn boxed him into his sides. "Ouch!" he cried. "Did- did Margaery Tyrell just kiss Robb Stark? Are you fucking kidding me? She´s supposed to be my girl! Mine! And Sansa Stark too!" the blond boy shouted angrily. The ghost didn´t respond, he just bumped his stick to the ground again, and the scene changed. A young woman was standing in a living room, decorating a tree. She was blond and her eyes were green. "This looks like-What year is this?" The ghost showed him another calendar. Fifteen years in the future. "Is that Myrcella?" That question was answered by a young man, whom he thought to be Trystan Martell. "Myrcella, a phone call for you", he said. "Yes, Myrcella Baratheon here. Yes, Joffrey is my brother. Accident? Well, no. No I don´t want to pick him up, I´ve got no time, and we-we haven´t talked for five years or so. Really, I´m sorry, but you have to call someone else." The room changed into another living room. The young man, who seemed to prepare for leaving was slightly familiar, but Joffrey din´t recognise him. The phone rang. "Tommen Baratheon." The boy gasped. His brother now was tall, broad shouldered, and looking like his uncle Jamie, just that his face was a little softer. "Hell, Tommen grew in the last few years, didn´t he!" "No, really, I don´t want to meet my brother again. We haven´t spoken in years, as we never liked each other very much. In addition to that, I was about to leave for a visit." The next room. A man was sitting on the couch. He recognised him without problems, it was Robb Stark. "Why the hell are you showing me Robb Stark? I mean, they are surely not going to call him!" If the ghost had eyes, he would have rolled them a lot by now. A woman entered, whom he also knew. "What the hell! What is my girlfriend doing here?" "When did your sister want to come?" Margaery asked. "Sansa? They should be here in any minute. What about your brothers?" "Coming later." A ring. Joffrey was wishing it to be the door, he wanted to see whether Margaery or Sansa looked better when they got older. It was the phone. "Yes, I know Joffrey Baratheon. No. Accident? What kind of accident? And this on Christmas! Horrible. No, I´m sorry. We were friends in school, if you could call it that, and our parents are friends, but we haven´t met in a couple of years. And friends and relatives are coming for dinner." She went on talking. "Are we going to stay until Sansa arrives?" The boy asked." "You really don´t want to understand, don´t you?" a creepy dark voice asked. "Well, then let me show you yourself!" They now stood in a hospital room. The patient lying in the bed was a young blonde. He had bruises and bandages at many part of his body. "Did you call them?" he asked slowly, like he was in pain, when a nurse entered. "Am I staying with my family?" She shook her head. "I´m afraid not. Nobody answered at your parents house." "Yes, that was likely to happen, they were surely visiting some friends. What about my siblings? Were they out, too?" "No, Mr Baratheon, I spoke to both of them. Your sister said she had no time, and you hadn´t seen her for years. Your brother was leaving for an appointment and said you never were close, so he did not want to meet you. Then I called the last number you gave me, but the young lady said you hadn´t talked in years and that she had guests. No one could or wanted to come and fetch you." She went out, leaving him alone. And he started crying. "Look at what you are! Look at how you are going to end! None of the people that like and tolerate you now will do this for a long time to go. You´ve lost everyone, and now you are alone! Alone on Christmas, alone in the rest of the year!" the ghost said in his dark, scary voice. The room became darker and darker, the crying became louder and louder. "Ghost, tell me, is this eventually going to happen? I meant", he shouted, as he couldn´t see the ghost in the black room. "I could change!"

"Aaaaahhhhh!" he woke up yelling. He breathed heavily a few times, then he jumped out of bed and ran to the door. On the left and the right, there were doors opened. "Tommen!" he shouted. "Myrcella!" They both looked at him suspiciously. "My dear siblings! Come on, lets open our presents!" He smiled at them, and together they ran down the stairs laughing. "Mom!" he shouted and hugged her tight, when she came into the living room where her children were ripping the paper of their presents. "Mom, could you hand me the phone, please? I´ve got to tell Margaery that I´m sorry and going to be her third king." "What happened to you, Joff?" Tyrion asked. "You look as if you´ve seen a ghost, or maybe three!"