UPDATED!!! Sorry for the delay, & thanx to my reviewers: HooDoo, Astraea, & Quicksilver Fallen. :D
A Hogwarts Christmas Carol
It was Christmas Eve 1987. A cold wind blew outside a shop in Diagon Alley. The sign above the door at one time read "Malfoy and Snape," but over time snow had covered up the name Snape. Inside the shop, the air froze a person's bones.
"Aren't you done yet?" came the voice of the shop's owner.
"Almost," the reply, from his sole employee.
"Well, if you don't finish, you can stay all nite until u do."
"But Lucius, 'tis Christmas Eve."
"Alright, I suppose you can go home an hour early, but I expect you to work it off tomorow."
"On Christmas Day?"
"Yes! I'm going home." With that, he picked up a frozen lump of coal from the unlit fire. Upon throwing it; "Weasley, consider that your Christmas bonus! Hohoho! Unmerry Christmas and Bah Humbug." Lucius apparated home to Malfoy Manor. Soon after, Mr. Weasley sighed and returned to his home at the Burrow.
******
At the Manor, Lucius kicked off his shoes & went upstairs to his cold, lonely bed. The shadows danced under the light of his candle, & he grew afraid.
"Pull yourself together! There's nothing here!" he grumbled.
As he reached his bed and pulled the curtains shut, an eerie wind blew through the window. Lucius gasped at the chains he heard the rattling of ghostly chains. A blue light shone before him, slowly forming into....
"Snape!"
"Yes. You haven't forgotten me." The ghost of Snape crept closer.
"Why have you come to me?"
"Malfoy, I come to warn you. I lived a terrible life & now I pay the price." Snape's ghost held up the many chains that covered him.
"But you were such a great man. Clever, ruthless, and rich-"
"No! I lived a selfish life, alone and miserly. I died alone, I had nothing. It is too late for me, but not for you. Tonight you will be visited by 3 spirits."
"Spirits? For what purpose?"
"You will see. Farewell."
"Snape! Wait!" But Snape had faded away. After a few minutes of searching the room for any sign of ghosts, wraiths, or apparitions, Malfoy felt brave again.
"Spirits! Ha! Seen plenty at Hogwarts." And with that, he rolled over to sleep.
******
A chill wind once again parted the curtains. Malfoy startled awake.
"Who's there?" He asked, alarmed.
A tiny blue faerie spirit appeared before him.
"Narccissa?"
"I am the ghost of Christmas past. I will take you on a journey of memories."
The window suddenly blew open. The faerie magically lifted Malfoy off the bed & they flew together out the window. Too surprised to speak, Malfoy watched the world rush underneath him.
Presently, the faerie reached a house that Malfoy once knew, but that had not occupied in ages. Precisely, since Malfoy was a young dandy bachelor. Oddly enough, there were many magical candles lit in the foyer, and the front of the house was decorated lavishly in giant wreaths & boughs of holly. There were even a few winged-horse-drawn carriages tethered outside. Apparently, there was quite a Christmas Eve party happening inside.
"What is this?" Malfoy was puzzled.
"Look inside, & you will have your answer," the faerie replied, as they drew right up to a window. Malfoy rubbed enough ice off the glass to get a clear view.
Inside, the dozens of party guests danced. At first, none seemed familiar to their intended viewer, but then…
"Nott! McNair! Peter! LeStrange! Why do they not answer? Snape?! How can this be?" Malfoy was dumbstruck.
"They can not see or hear you. We have traveled 20 years into the past, and this is a memory. Your memory."
"Hey! That's me dancing over there! Dancing with…you." With tears in his eyes, he turned to the blue ghost next to him. "This is the night I proposed."
"We could have been so happy. If only you hadn't pushed me away. First with the late nights, then the long business trips; you became so distant and consumed with money that you were a stranger to me."
"Oh Narcissa…" Filled with remorse for what he could not change, he made to embrace her, but she dissipated into mist, and he fell forward onto his bed.
"Wait! Narcissa…" He sighed and began to silently ponder. 'If only I had behaved differently.' His reverie was loudly interrupted by a sound from downstairs. Throwing on some slippers, he dashed down to the kitchen.
A blazing fire & a great feast filled the kitchen.
TBC…