Advance Arrangement
by Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.


"You freak." Vernon shouted at a girl, who looked about six years old. "Paintings DO NOT move! You embarrassed us in front of the whole school! If you ever do such a stunt again, I will kill you." He pushed her into the cupboard under the stairs. "You're going to stay there. Freaks don't get Christmas presents anyway."

"My sister has a daughter, and she is magical." Lily felt sick at her brother-in-law's treatment of her niece, about whom she did not even know until two minutes ago. "We need to help her."

James reassuringly laid his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, Lils, we will help her." Turning to Merlin, he suggested, "Do you think Santa could speak with Petunia and asks her if she will release her into his care? We can't well show up on her doorstep after all these years."

"Of course," Merlin replied, pleasantly. "I shall contact him." A moment later, a huge grin spread over his face, and he pointed at the screen. "Just watch."

To Lily's relief, the sleigh came into sight right in front of the Dursleys' house. Casting a silent Alohomora, Santa entered the house with her three children and their familiars in tow, while Claire and the elves took their time to distribute presents for the neighbourhood.

"HO HO HO Merry Christmas!"

Petunia stared at Santa in his Christmas suit, wide-eyed, while Vernon looked bored and Dudley inefficiently tried to make himself invisible.

"Merry Christmas, Father Christmas," Petunia replied in a thin voice.

'She's shaken about what her husband did to her daughter,' Lily realised, somehow feeling sorry for her sister to have married such an idiot. 'Oh well, that doesn't explain her treatment of Bobby though,' she told herself.

"I believe that something is amiss in this house." Santa's voice was firm and strict, albeit not unfriendly. "Who is the girl in the cupboard?"

Petunia and her husband exchanged a glance. "She's just a freak, so we told her to not bother you with her presence."

Petunia nodded to her husband's words. "My daughter," she admitted, "she's a freak like my sister was."

"Neither your sister nor your daughter is a freak." Santa's voice had lost its usual friendliness. "She is a witch, and I ask you to release her into my care."

"Will you take her with you?" Tears welled in Petunia's eyes. "Please do so, before Vernon kills her."

Santa nodded. He pulled a parchment out of his robe pocket and held it out to Petunia. "Please sign the guardianship papers, and you will never have to get in touch with her again if that's what you want."

Petunia nodded and began to fill in the parchment. "Lily and James Potter?" She suddenly stared at the parchment in shock. "But they're dead."

"No, they are living at my workshop together with their two sons and daughter," Santa explained, friendlier than before. "Your daughter will be in good hands with them."

Petunia nodded. "Thank God." Shaking her head in apparent confusion, she added, "Why did Professor Dumbledore tell us they were dead then?" She quickly filled in the parchment, before she fetched her daughter. "Violet, please go with Father Christmas. From now on, you're going to live with my sister and her family, who are all magical like you."

"Okay," Violet replied, casting her father a frightened look.

"Please help Violet pack her belongings," Santa then instructed the twins and Angelica, before he turned to Dudley and handed him a small package. "This is your Christmas present. It'll help with your weight."

"Th… thank you, Fa… Father Christmas." Dudley ripped off the paper and revealed what Lily recognised as a potions bottle.

"You're welcome. Just drink it."

Lily observed with bewilderment how Dudley gulped down the light red potion. "Is that a prank?" She questioningly looked from James to Merlin.

"I believe so." Merlin smirked. "But we'll need to question Santa about this." He then switched the screen to display Violet's room, where Santa with a flick of his hand collected the girl's belongings into a small suitcase, while her children were talking to the clearly distraught girl in obvious excitement.

Lily rose from the sofa. "Well, I better go and prepare Angelica's room for Violet to join her."

"I'll help." James quickly followed her to their igloo.

"We must hurry, as Santa will surely interrupt his deliveries to bring Violet and Angelica home," Lily said, knowing that they had at least ten minutes, before the sleigh would arrive.

HP

When the sleigh arrived, uncharacteristically loud and joyful with Santa, Claire, their children and the elves happily singing Christmas songs, everyone was waiting outside. The white puppies were the first to disembark, as usual; however, for once, the children remained in their human forms and followed in apparent excitement.

"Mummy, Daddy, this is Violet, our cousin. She's only two months older than me." Angelica grinned in obvious happiness. "She's going to live with us. Oh, and Merlin, may Violet attend school together with me?"

Smiling, Lily hugged the seemingly shy girl, noticing from the corners of her eyes that the sleigh departed again, leaving the children at home this time. "Hello Violet, I am your Aunt Lily, and these here are your Uncles James, Remus and Sirius. We're all magical like you, and we're very happy to have you here."

Violet's expression turned sad, as she replied, "There is no such thing as magic. I am only a freak."

"These awful muggles!" Sirius stepped over to them and transformed into his canine form, before he gently licked the girl's hands, bringing a small smile onto her face.

"This is magic." Lily smiled. "No, you're not a freak. You're a wonderful young witch, just like your cousin Angelica. Angelica, will you please show Violet your room? We're going to have breakfast in thirty minutes, and afterwards, you may open your presents."

HP

Later that day, when Lily and James were in bed, she sobbed into his chest. "How could they do that to Violet, making her believe that she was a freak? Just imagine how they would have treated Bobby if we hadn't taken him away from that hellhole."

"Thank Merlin we noticed what was happening." James soothingly pushed her hair out of her face and gently dried her tears. "We couldn't know about it."

"Somehow, I still feel sorry for Petunia. Violet seemed happy to be here, but she'll surely miss her mother. Perhaps, we can occasionally meet with Petunia."

"We'll see. Thank Merlin Angelica and Violet seem to be happy to have each other."

"That's true." Lily could not help smiling, knowing that Angelica had often felt a little lonely, considering that her brothers were twins and always had each other, no matter where they were.

HP

If Lily had feared that Violet might get homesick, no matter how bad her situation at her former home had been, she was completely mistaken. Not only the adults, but also the twins and especially Angelica made the girl very welcome, and the two eight-year-olds soon became inseparable.

A few days after Christmas, when everyone was relaxing from the stress that was Christmas on the North Pole, Angelica addressed Santa in apparent determination.

"Santa, can you please ask the North Fir Tree to make Violet and me twins? When school begins again next week, we want to be twins."

Santa nodded. "Violet, may I please speak with you in private for a moment?"

"It's all right. Santa will never harm you," Angelica whispered in a soothing voice, causing her cousin to reply in a small voice.

"Yes, sir."

HP

Santa and Violet left the room only to return ten minutes later, smiling broadly.

"Well, Angelica and Violet, shall we head outside to the tree?"

"Yes!" the girls shouted in obvious excitement. "May Mum and Lucy come with us?" Angelica then asked, looking from her familiar to her mother.

"Of course." Santa nodded, reassuringly, and the small group headed outside to consult the large, white North Fir Tree that controlled the magic of the North Pole.

tbc...

Thank you for the kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please continue feeding my muse. Any ideas, suggestions or opinions are welcome.