"Make a wish, Teddy, and write it to Santa in a letter," Uncle Harry had said. "If you are good, and your wish doesn't harm anyone, Santa will grant it to you."

So this is why Teddy Lupin, the big boy of age 10, jumped out of his bed and sat on the nearby chair.

He pulled out his notebook and pencil with the aim to write.

'But what should I write?' he thought. 'Should I just write my wish?'

'But Uncle Harry had said to write a letter,' he remembered.

So, he'll write a letter. He knew how to write one. His language teacher had taught it in class last week.

Nodding to himself, he picked up the pencil and wrote.

To,

The Santa

''Umm... What now?' he thought, putting the other end of the pencil in his mouth.

'Here comes the name of the school or office,' the teacher had said.

But Santa did not work in an office, did he? Uncle Harry never said anything about any office.

He grew very worried all of a sudden. It would not reach Santa without the proper address; he knew that. It was a grown-up thing. They needed all sorts of details before doing anything.

Who Santa? His full name. Where does he live? His contact number.

It wasn't like there were hundreds of Santas roaming here and there, were there? Then why all these questions?

'There isn't more than one Santa, right?' he questioned himself.

'Then how does he manage to send gifts all around the world?' his brain asked.

He utilised the next 5 minutes debating whether there was more than one Santa or not before he remembered the task he had at hand.

'Umm...," he mumbled and finally settled for the 'North Pole'.

To,

The Santa

North Pole

It was good. He had heard that Santa lived near the North Pole, and if there were more than one Santa, then it would be alright. He just needed to talk to one.

'Now, subject,' he said to himself.

Subject: Christmas gift

He looked at what he had written and frowned. It sounded whiny. And childish. Something little Domini... Domy... Dominick was.

'Why do people have such complicated names?' he huffed in frustration.

His was so simple to say. Teddy.

Anyways, she was the little sister of his friend. A child, but he was a big boy, and Santa should know that.

He rubbed what he had written and changed it to…

Subject - Request for Christmas gift

He nodded to himself. It was a grown-up thing. All formal tone and words.

Dear Santa, he wrote further.

'Umm...,' he mumbled again, putting the pencil in his mouth. Again.

What should he do now? Should he just start with his wish, or should he follow a more formal route?

He discussed it with himself, and then, realising the gravity of the situation he was in, settled for the formal route. Santa needed to know that it was a serious issue, and he was talking to a big, mature boy rather than some stupid child.

Thank you for the chess set you sent last year. It was very cool. I played on it a lot with Eren, my friend, until Domy threw some of the pieces, and they were never recovered.

He looked again at what he had written.

Would Santa be angry with Domy after this? Would he even send her a gift this year? She would be really sad if she didn't get one. He did not want to see her sad. Or cry. She cried too loudly.

The remembrance of her cries on his birthday because she wanted some of his gifts made him quickly rub out the last part. Her wailing would be too horrible.

I know Grandma says that asking for gifts is not good manners, but I really need your help with this one.

He paused, read again, and nodded. Now was a good place to ask for his wish.

This year, I need something different. Not toys or books. Not even sweets this time. I need your help.

I... umm... I don't want Uncle Harry and Daffy to date.

He stopped and nearly kicked himself with irritation. Grown-ups don't 'umm' while speaking, let alone writing. Santa will know at once that he was being childish, something he really wasn't. It was a really big problem.

I don't want them to date because I don't want to lose Daffy. She is the best. Actually, she is even better than the best.

She is fun; she likes to explore and doesn't ruin the fun like other grown-ups. Of course she studies a lot, something Eren believes is the only flaw in her, but I study as well. I study a lot of storybooks, comic books, and books about Uncle Harry. She even saves me from Grandma's anger.

He remembered one such instance just a few days back.

(Flashback)

"I told you, you won't get any ice cream today, Teddy," Grandma said angrily. "Didn't I? But of course, you never listen to me."

He stood there guiltily, his eyes glued to the ground. It hurt when Grandma scolded him, and even more when it was his fault. But it was ice cream! His second most favourite thing to eat.

"You realise that you have a cold, and how much worse it would have gotten with this," she continued, pointing towards the ice cream.

"What happened?" a voice said behind him. He turned back to find his best friend standing there looking to and fro between them.

"Teddy here thought that it was wise to eat ice cream even with the cold he has," Grandma said in the same angry tone, still looking at him disappointedly.

Daffy looked at him with raised eyebrows, and their eyes met for a second. He mouthed 'Sorry' to her and sent his most apologetic look.

Her face didn't betray anything, but she said, "Oh, it is not his fault. I asked him to bring ice cream for me. I am sorry I did not inform you beforehand."

It completely took him by surprise, and he tried his best to look innocent.

Grandma looked surprised as well, as if she was not sure whether Daffy was lying.

"You asked him?" she questioned.

She looked apologetic and said, "I'm really sorry for not informing you. It's not Teddy's fault, but mine."

Grandma nodded to her and handed over the ice cream cup.Then she

looked back at him with a final strict look.

"I am leaving you this time, young man, but if I ever find you doing something like this again, then it will be a ban on all the sweets in this house. Understand?"

He looked at her startled and quickly nodded in an affirmation. Sweets were not something he was willing to compromise on. Not even for ice creams.

Grandma went to the living room, and he turned to thank Daffy and was even more surprised to find that all the ice cream had vanished.

If it were not for the small portion sticking near her lips, then he would have thought that she used magic.

"You finished it?" he asked in surprise. "All of it?"

"Yes," she said. "And you will not repeat any such thing in the future. Do you understand?"

He nodded but then proposed with a cheeky smile, "You said in the future, right? So... can we have something tonight?"

"Should I invite Grandma as well?" she asked sweetly.

"No, no, no," he quickly backpedaled. "Let's go. Let's go."

(Flashback ends)

Of course he was not able to get ice cream that night, but it was better than disappointing Grandma.

His gaze fell upon his letter, at the portion where 'Daffy' was written, and then a thought struck him. Her name wasn't Daffy.

Lovely and simple as it was, it wasn't her real name. Only he and Aunt Tory called her that. Well, they were the ones who were able to call her that. Rest faced a very angry Daffy when they tried.

So it was highly possible that Santa might not know her as Daffy.

'But what's her real name?' he thought.

It was pronounced Daph-knee and was written without the 'k,' but he was not sure about the number of 'e's.

He looked around his room to find something that might help him. While looking over his toys, his eyes found the one given to him by Daffy. He quickly searched for its box and found her name written on it.

He was correct. It was 'Daph-knee' with no 'k' and one 'e'.

Reaching for his pencil, he continued.

You might know her as Daphne Greengrass. That's her real name, even though I never call her that. Yes, I know what you are probably thinking. She's more than twice my age... actually nearly thrice, but hey, age is just a number, isn't it?

He paused here to give the credit of this quote to Shakespeare, but he wasn't sure if it was given by him or not.

'Most of these sayings come from him, don't they?' he thought.

'Doesn't mean that it has to be true every time,' his brain replied.

It was true. And what if he was wrong and Santa took him for a stupid boy who had no idea what he was talking about? Better not to risk it, he decided.

Instead he started giving explanations for his Christmas wish.

You might also be wondering why I don't want them to date.

They are really lovely. The best of friends. Like Uncle Harry had in his school. But Uncle Harry also said that your partner becomes your priority over your friends.

Most probably because they have to do all those boyfriend-girlfriend things.

The mention of these left a sour taste in his mouth.

Some of the things they did were very unhygienic.

Like, Uncle George kissing Aunt Angelina after a Quidditch match at the Burrow, when both of them were sweaty and dirty.

The smell of sweat was something he really disliked, and they just started kissing without even taking a shower.

"And Grandma says I need to be well behaved," he muttered. "Grown-ups should learn manners while dating."

These things disgust me. Why can't you kiss on the cheeks, or hands, or head, or anywhere else?

Why mouth? Don't they realise that they are exchanging their saliva?

Bile rose to his mouth at the thought, and he quickly shook his head to remove that image from his mind.

It was always an unpleasant experience whenever he found someone doing it. It was icky and stupid.

'Why do these people keep eating each other's lips and mouths when there were so many sweets?' he questioned for the umpteenth time.

Sometimes grown-ups really don't make any sense.

Shaking his head at their stupidity, he focused on his problem.

Uncle Harry had said that eventually your friends are left behind as you move forward with your life partner. It happened to him with Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. It might happen to him as well.

The thought gave him chills. His best friend leaving him behind wasn't something he will be able to handle.

What if it all goes wrong? What if they do all those boyfriend-girlfriend things and then have a big fight? Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione have that at least once a month. What if Uncle Harry and Daffy have such a fight that their friendship is over?

Now that he was really thinking about all the possibilities, it was quite clear that it might happen. And what if they ask him to choose a side?

That's what happened in his school. Two of his friends fought, and then they asked their group to choose a side. They became friends later, but what if they had not?

He'll at least lose one of them this way, for sure.

I know, I might be wrong. Uncle Harry and Daffy are really great friends. But that thing terrifies me even more. If they decide that they really like each other and leave me behind. I don't want to be left alone.

The thought was enough to bring him to tears, and it did. Tiny droplets formed at the corner of his eyes, which he quickly wiped.

If things went this way, then he'll lose both of them.

'They are my only family, Santa," he said in a terrified voice. "Grandma, Uncle Harry, and Daffy."

His parents had died when he was an infant. His grandma and uncle Harry were all he had in the start.

When Daffy came, they became a family.

Eren and Vic-tory were his closest friends, but Daffy was the best of them. Of all of them.

If they were gone... he again felt the tears brimming.

"No, no," he tried to console himself. "It won't happen. Santa won't let it happen."

Vic-tory..., his family friend, and whose spelling does not end with 'y,' believes that they make a great couple, but I agree with Eren here. She is stupid sometimes. She thinks football is boring for one. I had never seen Eren look so shocked before.

He laughed slightly as he remembered Eren's face that day. But sometimes Eren acted stupid as well. He once said that Uncle Harry terrified him in the start. Uncle Harry, terrifying? Ha. It was like Daffy giving cold looks and replies.

I just want us to remain best friends. Uncle Harry and Daphne, me and Daffy, me and Eren, and Vic-tory. Best friends forever.

Can you make it possible, Santa? Can you make it so that I won't lose them? Please do it for me, Santa.This is my Christmas wish.

From

Teddy

He put the pencil on the desk and gave it a read. Once, twice, thrice.

He put the pencil on the desk, not noticing the marks of his chewing, and gave it a read. Once, twice, thrice.

When he was satisfied that it captured everything that he had wanted to say and was grown-up enough, he folded it and put it on the table.

It was then when he noticed the marks on his pencil and groaned. He really was a child.

"Big boys don't chew pencils, Teddy," he told himself. "They chew sugar quills."

After coming back, he hopped onto his bed, put a blanket over him, and closed his eyes. The last thing he saw was his folded letter on the desk.

Stifling a yawn, he jumped back on the floor and went to the washroom to brush his teeth. And to wash his eyes as well. They were coming to tears quite quickly these days.

Little Teddy Lupin had no idea when his grandma came to check on him, saw the folded paper on the desk, and read it.

He had no idea when she sighed and said, 'Oh Teddy!' and neither did he have any remembrance of her kiss on his forehead and the long minutes she just kept looking at him with tears of her own.

So naturally, he had no idea when the door clicked softly, and she left.

He was sound asleep the whole time, wishing they would all remain the best of friends. And family. His family.