"I'm so sorry," the spirit of Christmas past said, "That really looked like it hurt."
"Don't be sorry," Draco scoffed, "They don't even know what they're talking about. I'm rising in ranks fast at the ministry and soon the opinion of simpleton like them won't even matter soon enough," Draco replied as he put himself back into his bed. "What are you still doing here? I'm going to bed. Then when I wake up, this will all be a distant memory of a nightmare."
"I already told you Draco, this isn't a dream"
"I didn't say it was a dream, I said it was a nightmare. Now, get out of my house! I want nothing to do with you."
When Draco opened his eyes, he had expected the spirit to still be lucking in the shadows of his room, but he found himself disappointed when he saw an empty room. No matter. Draco was going to go to sleep and try to forget about this whole ordeal. This whole thing was too absurd to be real after all.
✧༺ ༻∞ * ∞༺ ༻✧
The sound of the horn of a trumpet blaring in his ear woke Draco up.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Draco yelled as he blasted up from his slumber.
"Time to wake up Draco! Things are happening and we have places to be! No time to waste, up you go!" Draco was pulled up and dragged from his bedsheets onto his feet.
"Who are you?!" Draco shrieked.
A tall older woman with desaturated brown hair stood looming above Draco. An Edwardian hairstyle crowned her head and matched her red Edwardian trumpet dress. Contrary to the last spirit, this one carried an uptight expression, yet she still seemed like a friendly or approachable person.
"Oh, where are my manners! I am the spirit of Christmas present, and I, of course, know you, so no need for access to introductions," the spirit said as she grabbed onto Draco's arm, "Now come on!"
Draco was pulled up and dragged from his bed from the arm as the spirit started to cast her spell.
A tunnel appeared to Draco much like the last, and Draco was immediately thrown into its depths like it was a giant slip and slide. Draco screamed as the tunnel slide went up and down and threw Draco in every direction until it spat him out onto a cobblestone road. The dark night and the rising of the sun told Draco that it was the early hours of the morning.
In front of him was a townhouse connected to many identical ones. The brick building seemed to be four or five stories high with seven windows lining the front. A giant reef was hung from the door.
"You have some nerve dragging me off here without my permission!" Draco said as he pushed himself up from where he had been thrown onto the ground.
"Yes, well the present moves fast, so there is no time to waste," she said. "Quickly, follow me!"
The woman yanked Draco's arm into hers as she started to float high and high above the ground. Even with Draco's protests, he floated up with her and was dragged behind like a glorified windless kite. They were flying straight towards the first floor of the house. Draco closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact that was sure to come when they would hit the wall, but it never came. Instead, when Draco opened his eyes, he found himself half inside the house as his legs dangled outside on the other side of the wall. Draco yelled.
"Get me out of here!" he cried.
The spirit, who seemed to have not realised that she had left Draco behind, turned around and sighed a sigh of annoyance.
"Now's not the time to fool around!" she said as she took Draco's hand and dragged him out of the wall. Draco pushed himself up from the flooring, so he was standing. The spirit of Christmas present gestured for him to follow her and Draco begrudgingly obliged.
The house was thoroughly decorated for the holidays, from the staircase's handrails covered in garlands of plastic holly to the floors which had Christmas carpets and rugs aplenty. Cheerful Christmas Carols played from somewhere in the house. When Draco and the spirit turned the corner Draco found the source of the music. A large dining table covered in food and drinks was placed in the middle of this room and around it a gleeful group of people were enjoying the grand supper. They laughed and cheered and made endless conversation that filled up the room.
"They really go all out for the holidays, don't they?" the spirit said, "This must be hell for you. You know, with all the holiday cheer and all."
"What is the point of this?" Draco asked in annoyance.
"Just thought I'd show you what you're missing out on," the spirit said, "You know, being as you know these folk and all."
Draco frowned. "No, I don't…" But he did. When he looked at the group of people, he realised that he knew most of them. Most of them were the Gryffindors, but there were others from different houses as well. Draco recognized the Lovegood girl from Ravenclaw as well as Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff. At the head of the group was none other than Harry Potter himself. He stood tall with a glass of wine in his hand as he led the conversation with a goofy smile on his face. Draco rolled his eyes. Of course, Potter was the cause of this Christmas chaos.
"Okay so I know them. I still don't see the point of this."
"They look quite happy, don't they? Too bad you weren't invited," the spirit said.
Draco frowned at her. "These people ruined my life. Why would I possibly want to be invited to their silly little pre-Christmas Christmas party?"
"Technically they didn't ruin your life. Voldemort did, and since they were the ones to take him down, doesn't that put you both on the same side?" the spirit said, "Just some food for thought."
"What do you know?" Draco growled.
"Draco, I am basically all knowing. I see all," the spirit said, "Anyway I think it's about time we get going, we have one more stop."
The woman took Draco's arm once again and pulled out her wand. Draco finally had a chance to properly look at it. It glowed like the last spirit's, but it was thinner and longer and it glowed the green of a Christmas tree. As she flicked the wand, the scenery around him turned from the suburban houses to what looked like a market being set up as the sun rose.
"Have you been here before?" the spirit asked Draco.
"No, I don't come to common markets like this. The elves are the ones who fetch our food," Draco replied.
"Ah yes the elves. I've always been a fan of those little creatures."
Draco scoffed. "What are we doing here anyway? Are you going to make me buy a turkey or something?"
"You can't buy anything Draco. You're invisible," the spirit of Christmas present said.
"Right, so what is it then?" Draco asked, eager to get this whole thing over with.
"I just thought we could have a look around."
So have a look around they did. It was too early for the shops in the market to be open, but all around the square people were setting up their tents and stands.
"Is this happening right now?" Draco asked, "I thought people generally didn't work on the 24th."
"Yes, this is the present," the spirit said, "Some people don't have the luxury to take a day off."
They walked through the square until they reached the street which was covered in a few inches of snow. Draco noticed that in this specific part of the city, tents and people littered the street. Some slept in sleeping bags outside in the snow, and others sat awake staring at the looming sunrise.
"What is this?" Draco asked, looking over at the spirit who stood beside him.
"This is where most of the homeless population resides," the spirit answered, "Come with me, there's someone I want you to meet."
Without a response, the spirit took off into the maze of people and Draco followed close behind as to not get lost. They passed by person after person and tent after tent until suddenly the spirit stopped in her tracks. Draco nearly slipped and fell on black ice as he halted behind her.
In front of the two was a boy. He had matted chestnut hair and skin spotted with dirt and grime. He looked to be a young teenager, maybe even a tween. Beside him were two other kids, and a girl and one a boy. They both shared the same matted and run-down look of the first boy and all three carried a beaming smile as they shared a laugh.
"This is Timothy," the spirit said.
"He's so young," Draco said, "Why is he on the street? Shouldn't he be at Hogwarts?"
"He's an orphan who ran away from the orphanage. He did get a letter to Hogwarts, but he decided not to go in fear of being ridiculed and outcasted for his social status."
"That's… That's horrible," Draco said.
"Is it?" the spirit said as she raised her eyebrows, "He was right after all, if he had gone, that exact thing i just described would've happened to him. Why, I do recall that you yourself used to be the person in your school who would ridicule people for their social status."
"I-," Draco stammered as he stood stunned. It was true after all. He probably would have made fun of this boy in school, but he was different now. Wasn't he?
"Doesn't matter anyway, the boy's going to die very soon unless the course of events changes," the spirit said.
Draco stopped and his eyes widened. "What? How do you know that?"
"I told you Draco, I know all," she said, "he's sick and unless he gets the medical attention he needs, he will die very soon."
"Well, do something then," Draco demanded.
"I am but the spirit of a Christmas present," the spirit replied, "I can not change the future."
"Well, What about the other one? The spirit of Christmas Future or whatever they're called. Why don't they do anything?" Draco asked.
"The spirit of Christmas yet to come can not change the future either. They can only see the many possibilities that lie ahead and decide the most likely future," she replied.
"Then what's even the point of all this? You're all useless!"
"Are we Draco?" she asked, "It's quite interesting that you're so concerned for this poor boy when otherwise you would've called him half blood scum."
"Well-" Draco stammered, "Well he is."
"Great, then I see no problem. The boy will die, and the world will be rid of one more useless wizard," the spirit said, "Hmm, it looks like the sun has risen quite a bit. Better get you back home."
Draco didn't reply as the spirit interlocked her arm with his and made the magic tunnel slide reappear.