Author Note: Out of Character 12 year olds!

Thanks to everyone who has left a review! I really do appreciate it! And thanks to my beta Becky!! You are the greatest, girl! :o)

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Draco lay awake in his bed waiting for the bells to toll one. The bells rang once. "Half past" he muttered.

Meanwhile...

Fred and George snuck up the stairs to Draco's door. Fred walked up to it and tried the handle; it was locked. "Great, now how do we get in? These doors are bolted shut!"

"Step aside," George said and he pulled out his wand. "Alohomora," he said clearly and quietly and suddenly the door opened with a quiet squeak. He put the wand back inside his jacket pocket.

"You have to be kidding me!" Fred exclaimed.

"Shhh," George said, bringing his finger up to his lips, "you didn't see that."

"Not only is Charles Dickens now a wizard, but you had a wand this whole time!?" Fred asked quietly.

"What wand?" George said as he walked into Draco's room and hid.

The bells tolled again, "Quarter of," Draco sighed, annoyed. "Come on already!" Then what felt like seconds later, the bells tolled again. "The hour itself," Draco laughed smugly. "Nothing. Stupid dream!"

Fred looked at George, who said, "Expect the first as the bell tolls one!"

Suddenly there was a big flash of bright light, blinding the twins. Draco, who was sitting in his bed with the curtains drawn, could see the light through the gaps.

"What the...?" Draco kneeled on the bed and brought back the curtains as the light dimmed. He saw an elderly man standing in front of his bed. "Are you the Spirit whose coming was foretold?"

"I am," answered the man.

"Who... what are you?"

"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past," the man explained.

"Long past?"

"No, your past."

Draco looked at him through questioning eyes; the Spirit looked familiar to him. "What is your business here?"

"Your welfare."

Draco laughed and repeated, "My welfare, well, I thank you spirit, but I do believe that a good, long, undisturbed rest is all I will need to fix that."

The Spirit extended his hand to Draco and said, "Come with me."

"I... I'd rather not, but maybe some other time. I mean, I'm not dressed, I'm tired and I feel a cold coming on. And I think I've got a temperature already," Draco said, raising a hand up to his face. "Yes, definitely a temperature.

"This guy has more excuses than we did when we were in school," Fred mumbled. George put a finger to his lips to remind his brother that they were trying not to be heard.

The Spirit did not listen to any of Draco's story. He only smiled and nodded his head. "Rise and walk with me."

Draco, for the life of him, could not disobey the Spirits' command. He reached for the Spirit's hand and walked with him. When Draco saw that they were going to the window, he said, "No, I can't go out there. I'm likely to fall."

"A simple touch of my hand and you will rise with me," the Spirit said.

"Um... are you sure?" Draco asked.

"Yes, my dear boy, I will not let you fall, I promise." The Spirit walked to the window and held his hand out again. "Come on, it is time to go, I do not have all night."

Draco slowly reached out his hand to the Spirit. Just as he was about to grab it, George whispered loudly, "Let's go!" He grabbed his brother's hand and dragged him out into the open.

"What...?" was all Fred was able to say when George grabbed a hold of Draco and told him to just hang on to him.

"What the...?" was all Draco was able to say when the Spirit grabbed a hold of his hand, lifted all three men, and flew out the window. "What are you two doing here?" Draco asked.

"Um..." was all George could say.

"It's all his bloody fault! Needing to be the narrator! OW!" Fred yelled when he hit a tree.

"Watch out for that tree."

"Thanks for the heads up."

Draco decided to just let the two boys bicker with each other and look where he was going. He saw a bright light just ahead of them. "Spirit, what is that light? It can not be dawn."

"It is the past," the Spirit stated as they flew into it.

"Oh wow, it's beautiful!" George exclaimed.

Seconds later they were flying through the air during a new day. It was bright as though it was afternoon.

The Spirit lowered them down to the ground, and Fred shouted with excitement, "That was bloody terrific, if I do say so myself!" He turned to Draco, "What did you think of it ol' boy?"

Draco just sighed and rolled his eyes as George continued with his narration. "And so they arrived to Draco Malfoy's childhood days."

Draco looked at George but asked Fred, "What the hell is he doing?"

"He's narrating the story. He thinks he's Charles Dickens," explained Fred. Draco let out a small laugh. "Listen to him; he's pretty good at it."

George could feel the eyes of Draco, Fred, and the Spirit all upon him, but he continued with his story just the same. "It was the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and Malfoy was aware of many odors, each one connected with a different memory, hope, joy, and care, long, long forgotten."

Draco shrugged his shoulders and said, "I guess so." He was interrupted by a bunch of kids screaming and laughing with joy. Draco looked up in amazement.

"Do you recognize this place, Draco?" the Spirit asked.

"Recognize it? I was a boy here! I went to school here!" Draco exclaimed. "I know these boys! There's William Fisher, and Tony Banks, and that's Bobby Walker. Hello, boys!" he said to them.

"They cannot hear you, Draco, they are only shadows from things that have been. Where are they going?"

Draco looked down at his feet and said, "They are going home to spend the holidays with their family."

"Come, Draco, let us move on," the Spirit said kindly to him.

As the two walked into the school house they heard, "As Draco walked into the school house he was flooded with memories."

Ignoring George, Draco said, "I remember it all, Spirit. I remember it all so much. The desks, the smell of the chalk."

"And is he, too, familiar?" the Spirit asked as he pointed to a boy sitting alone in the corner.

Draco turned to look where the Spirit was pointing, and before he could say anything, George said, "Draco looked upon a boy he knew, oh very well indeed."

Draco looked at a boy around the age of 9 or 10, with short blonde hair and cool gray eyes. He gasped, "It's me!"

"Why didn't you go home for Christmas?" asked the Spirit.

"I wasn't wanted," Draco said quietly. He sat down at one of the desks and said, "My father turned against me when my mother died. He never wanted to see me."

"It's hard."

"Life is hard." Draco stated and then grew quiet.

"Come, let us see another Christmas."

"No, wait, wait just a moment," Draco said. He rose from his seat and started to walk towards the window. "Something else happened this day, I think at least. Didn't it, Spirit?" The Spirit only replied with a smile.

As he reached the window he heard a girl screaming, "Stop it!"

Draco gasped, "Ginny!"

He ran outside with everyone behind him, including his younger self.

Young Draco ran out of the schoolhouse, looking around to try to find the source of the screaming. "Leave me alone!" he heard the same girl scream. He ran to the other side of the school and saw a handful of boys surrounding a girl lying on the ground, crying. They were poking and throwing snow at her. "Weasley!" they shouted at her. "Poor Weasel!"

Draco ran up to the boys and threw them aside. When he reached the middle, he glared at the boys and said, "Leave her alone."

"Or what will you do, Ferret boy?" one of the taller boys asked.

"I'll go get Headmaster Dumbledore. You know as well as I do, Flint, if you do one more thing wrong, he'll send you home for good. I don't think Mommy and Daddy would like that very much!" Flint backed down. "Now get out of here, all of you!"

"Boys!" a voice called. "The last of the carriages are here to bring you home."

"Come on, boys, let's leave Malfoy alone, again." Flint laughed and went on his way with the other boys in tow.

As soon as they were all gone, Draco turned around and bent down. "You can get up now."

"No!" the girl screamed. "Leave me alone! Don't touch me!"

Draco looked down upon the girl. From what he could tell she was young, maybe a year or so younger than he was. She had long, thick, red hair and what looked to be torn hand-me-down clothes. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

"Then just leave me alone and go home!"

Draco sat down in the snow next to her. "I am home, sort of, I guess."

The girl still did not raise her head. "You live here?"

"Yeah."

"Where's your family?"

"Far from here."

"Doesn't your mother and father want you home for Christmas?"

"Don't have a mother, and my father doesn't like me very much."

"I'm sorry," she said, raising her head. "But you must miss him."

"Not really. I miss my sister Fan though."

The girl laughed a little. "What a strange name."

"Yeah, I guess it is. So tell me, ma'am," he said with a smile and stood up, "what is your name?" He held out his hand to help her up.

"Virginia Weasley," she said shyly, grabbed his hand, and stood up.

"Well, Virginia, my name is Draco Malfoy. It's a pleasure to meet you." He kissed her hand.

Ginny giggled and pushed him, making him fall into the snow. "Hey! What was that for?" Draco said with a laugh.

"You're a boy, you're not supposed to do that!"

"I'm a boy who knows his manners!" He smiled and threw some snow at her; he stood up and started chasing her.

"This was the day I first met her," the older Draco said. He turned around and saw Fred and George glaring at him. "Great, more brother protection!" He pointed at George and said, "You're Charles Dickens, so don't be angry with me!"

Before anyone said anything, the Spirit said, "Come Draco, let us see another Christmas." The Spirit put a hand on Draco's back and the two moved on.

They were still at the schoolhouse, but as soon as Draco saw himself, he knew that it had to be about two years in the future.

"Draco," said a voice, and both Dracos's heads turned around.

"Headmaster Dumbledore!" Draco said with a smile. "He was one of the best teachers a boy could... Hey! Wait a minute!" He turned towards the Spirit.

"What? I see nothing. Let's watch," said the Spirit.

"Headmaster Dumbledore, is there something that you need?" asked the younger Draco. "I was about to go see a friend."

"I know, but that will have to wait. You have a visitor."

"Me? I have a visitor?"

Dumbledore just smiled and opened the door. "Draco!" exclaimed his visitor.

"Fan?" he gasped. "Fan!" She ran over to him and hugged him.

"It was indeed his older sister, Fan," narrated George. "He had not looked upon her for almost four years."

Draco turned to him and said, "Oh wow, you've been quiet for so long that I thought you guys were gone."

"Hardy har har," George responded.

They turned their eyes back to the scene that was before them.

"Fan, what are you doing here?" asked younger Draco.

"I've come to take you home, Draco. Home!"

"Home?" he asked. "For how long?"

"For ever and ever. Father has changed, he's so much kinder then he used to be. Home is like Heaven now. He spoke so nice the other night that I was not afraid to ask him if you could come home, and he said yes, and he sent me in a cab to come get you!"

"Oh Fan!" He hugged his sister once more. "That's... that's wonderful."

"What's wrong? Don't you want to come home?"

"No... well, I do... it's just that... well, my friend. I have to go say goodbye to her. Come and meet her!"

"Um... sure!" Fan said with a smile.

"I'll make sure that your stuff gets packed onto the carriage," Dumbledore said.

"Oh thank you, Headmaster Dumbledore!" Draco said and shook his hand. "I shall never forget you!" He grabbed his sister's hand and said, "Come on, Fan!" With a wave to the headmaster they were gone.

Fan followed Draco down the road a little to a very run down house. He knocked on the door, and an older woman answered.

"Oh, well hello, Draco!"

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley," he said, taking off his hat.

Mrs. Weasley noticed the girl and asked, "Who's your friend?"

"This," he smiled, "is my older sister, Fan."

"Hello dear. Will you be staying for dinner too?"

"Uh, no. I have just come to meet your daughter," said Fan.

"Ah, yes, she'll be just a moment." Mrs. Weasley walked to the stairs and yelled up, "Ginny dear! Draco's here!"

A few seconds later they could hear her fly down the stairs. "Hi, Draco," Ginny said.

"Hello, Virginia." The two just stared at each other.

Fan cleared her voice and nudged her little brother. "Draco, introduce me to your friend."

"Oh, yes, Virginia, this is my sister, Fan."

"Hi, Fan. I've heard so much about you! Are you two staying for dinner?"

Draco answered for her. "Uh, actually, Ginny, she's come to take me home."

"Oh, you're going home for Christmas! That's wonderful."

"Uh, well, actually..."

"Draco, I'll let you two alone," said Fan. "I'll wait for you in the carriage."

"Okay, thanks, Fan."

"Nice meeting you, Ginny, I hope I see you again soon."

"Same here, Fan," Ginny said, and Fan left. "Nice sister."

"Thanks." He paused. "Uh, Ginny, I'm not..."

"You're not coming back, are you?"

"Well, no." There was a long pause. "But I'll see you again. Real soon."

"Yeah, I'm sure of it," she said, looking down at the ground.

Draco walked over to her, put a finger under her chin, and raised her head. "I will always remember you. I swore that I will always protect you and a promise is a promise." A lone tear ran down Ginny's face and he wiped it away. Through the open door he could hear the clomp of the horses hooves. He gave his friend a hug and said, "We will meet again. I swear it." He left through the door.

"Draco, wait!" Ginny called and ran after him. As he turned around, he felt her hands reach up and bring his head down to hers to kiss him. She let go quickly. "Goodbye, Draco."

Draco smiled widely, and his face turned pink. He waved and left.

As he entered the carriage, Fan looked at him and said, "Draco...you're pink."

As the carriage drove on, he heard, "Don't forget me."

He turned his head and waved. "I won't! I swear it!!"

The older Draco looked down and said quietly, "And I never did forget."

"Come, Draco, let us see another Christmas," said the Spirit.

To Be Continued...