A Hogwarts Christmas Carol

Big thanks to my beta Zephyr,
She liked it!!

Half belongs to J.K Rowling
Half belongs to Charles Dickens
I just put them together!!


STAVE ONE - MALFOYS GHOST

The snow whirled around the old castle in a blizzard, on that Christmas Eve, causing even Hagrid and Fang to stay inside their hut. Severus Snape turned from the magical window he had installed into his dungeon office at Hogwarts, in better days and had never bothered to take out.

He was a miserable, cold-hearted man. The war had ended seven years ago, yet he was still here. He had nowhere else to go. He was feared and despised by students and mostly ignored by staff. He had no friends and that suited him fine. This was the way it had always been; well, since his only friend had died.

He had just sat down behind his desk, grumbling to himself as he pulled some papers over to begin marking when there was a knock at the door. \"Enter,” he barked, in annoyance. He loathed people coming to see him.

Hermione Potter stepped quietly into the room. \"I\'ve finished brewing all Poppy\'s potions for the new term and wondered if there was anything else you needed me to do?\" She asked timidly.

\"Have you cleared up?\" He snarled at her, without looking up.

\"No sir, not yet, I just wanted to check...\" She started.

\"Well,\" he bellowed, \"what the hell are you waiting for? Go and clear it all up, when you\'ve done that you can inventory the student storeroom for me and make a list of what is needed next term.\" He looked up. \"In case you are not with us then,\" he smiled evilly at her, knowing that the job was only temporary, and how desperately she needed the money.

\"Yes Professor,\" She sighed, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her. She began to gather up the caldrons she had been using.

For the last twelve months she had been Professor Snape’s assistant/dogsbody. She worked everyday for at least twelve hours and left her son, James in the care of the newly formed crèche. Being a widow, a mother and working for Severus had nearly killed her.

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she cleaned the cauldrons by hand, as Professor Snape preferred them that way. It was seven years ago to the day since Harry had died. The final battle had been fought and, depending on how you looked at it, won on Christmas Eve.

The classroom door slammed open, surprising her out of her thoughts. She looked up sharply and let a small smile appear on her face as she saw the husband of her only living friend come strolling in like he didn\'t have a care in the world.

Draco Malfoy loved Christmas. If you had asked him eight years ago what he thought of Christmas he would have just hexed you, but his life had changed dramatically since then. Draco had told his father that he didn\'t want to become a Death Eater, he was tired of the war and of the constant battles he was expected to fight inside the castle. He had also fallen in love with Ginny Weasley and wanted to marry her, so he knew he would have to change his ways. Lucius was incensed that his only child would turn his back on the way of life he created and during the final battle had attacked Ginny, trying to Avada her but Draco had been to quick and had deflected the curse back onto Lucius, killing his own father. He and Ginny had married and had three children, and although they were poor, due to the Malfoy estate being seized by the Ministry, they were blissfully happy.

Draco noticed his wife\'s best friend standing behind a desk looking at him expectantly.

\"Hermione!\" He exclaimed, striding over to her and engulfing her in a hug. \"Why has it been so long since we last saw you?\" He asked with concern, noticing the dark circles under her eyes, \"Has my Godfather been working you to hard?\" He said jokingly.

She smiled and was about to answer, when the office door slammed open to reveal Severus, scowling and folding his arms in front of him

\"I do not remember telling you to stop working, Miss Granger, and yet here you are, idly gossiping, when there is work to be done,\" he snapped at her.

Hermione mumbled a quick \"Sorry sir\" and went back to what she was doing, but not before Draco squeezed her hand in sympathy and then followed Severus into his office not bothering to close the door behind him.

\"Uncle Severus, you know that she has not been Miss Granger for a long time now, yet you have never called her Mrs. Potter,\" Said Draco, quietly.

Severus stared at him for a moment. \"Is that what you interrupted my time to tell me?\" He sneered at his godson, who had always insisted on calling him uncle since he was a child.

\"No Uncle,\" he replied, remembering the reason for his visit and smiling at the surly professor. \"I came to ask you to Christmas dinner,\" He said.

\"Bah Humbug,\" muttered Severus, returning to his papers.

\"Oh come on uncle, you don\'t mean that,\" Draco said incredulously.

\"Don\'t I?\" said Severus, trying his damnedest to get the young man to leave, \"What are you so damn happy about anyway, you haven\'t got a Knut to your name?\"

\"Well, you can talk, why are you so damn miserable, you\'re loaded?\" replied Draco, with a smirk.

\"Well, what do you expect Draco?\" Sighed Severus throwing down his papers, \"It\'s this ridiculous time of the year. I’ll bet that you’ve bought to much food and too many presents that you can’t afford, and will still be paying for next year, decorated that tiny hovel of yours in the brightest, most garish decorations you could find, until they make your eyes hurt, yet it has made you no richer and no younger, there is no point to it.\"

Draco just watched him ranting.

\"And another thing, if it were up to me then anyone who walked around with ‘Merry Christmas’ on their lips should be trampled by a herd of Hippogriffs and then fed to a pack of Blast-ended Skrewts.\"

\"Severus,\" said Draco, exasperatedly.

\"Draco,\" said Severus in the same tone. \"You have Christmas your way and I’ll have it mine.\" He finished turning his back.

\"But you don’t have it,\" said Draco, sighing.

\"Then leave me to not have it,\" Severus snapped, without looking back.

\"Severus,\" said Draco slowly as if talking to a child, \"Christmas is a time for family, for being with your friends and loved ones, for doing things for others even if there is nothing to be gained from it.\"

Hermione, who had been listening to all this in the other room, lifted her hands and began quietly applauding Draco.

\"Miss Granger,\" said Severus without turning around, \"I can assure that if you wish to be so merry about Christmas in my presence, you will be looking for another job by New Year.\"

Hermione quickly turned back to the caldrons.

\"Will you come to dinner with us tomorrow?\" said Draco, finally.

\"No,\" said Severus, shortly.

Draco sighed and tried not to show how hurt he was by the rejection of, the man he considered to be his only living relative.

\"Merry Christmas Uncle,\" he said, sadly, turning to leave.

Hermione gave him a small smile and hugged him.

\"Merry Christmas ‘Mione,\" He whispered. \"You are welcome to join us, as always.\"

\"Thanks Draco, I’ll see, Merry Christmas,” she whispered back. As she watched him go back to his family, she was overcome by jealously for him and Ginny. They had nothing, yet they had everything that mattered.

Severus came out of the office as she continued cleaning out the caldrons. \"I suppose you’ll be expecting tomorrow off then?\" He said snarkily.

\"Yes please.\" She replied, timidly. \"It is Christmas day.\"

He raised his eyebrow at her. \"That means nothing to me Miss Granger, as you should know. All I can see, is that you get out of work for a day and you get paid for it.\"

She put her head down and carried on working.

They carried on working in silence until the clock struck six. Hermione stuck her head around the office door. \"I’ll be leaving now sir if that’s ok with you?\" She said, \"Everything’s cleaned up and the inventory is on the back of the storeroom door.\"

Without looking up from his papers, he said, \"Leave.\"

As she put her hand on the doorknob, she stilled and looked at him for a moment. He had always treated her with contempt, yet she couldn’t bring herself to hate him. In fact she had always been quite fond of him, al be it secretly. He was one of the most intelligent and brave men she had ever met, and she was sure that, given the chance, they could be friends. In her heart she knew that his attitude was down to the demons he still fought daily. She couldn’t bear to see him alone at Christmas.

\"Sir,\" she said nervously, \"If you do find yourself wanting some company tomorrow, I would be delighted if you would join myself and James in our rooms for dinner.\" She looked at floor.

Severus looked up at her with a scowl on his face. \"I said leave,\" he hissed, \"before I change my mind.\"

She shut the door and walked out of the classroom to pick up her son, whispering \"Merry Christmas\" as she went.

Severus was drunk. This was quite usual. He did not understand why people kept insisting that he have a good time, or get into the spirit of things. He did not want people around him. He wanted to be alone. Hermione Granger had tried to befriend him since she arrived, and although he secretly admired her strength as a person and her intelligence, he had no need for friends, and they were no use to him. He took one last gulp from his bottle of Firewhiskey and passed out in the chair.

The pale light of the moon lit the dungeons, as the clock struck twelve. Severus awoke with a shiver. The fire had gone out. Wait, the fire had gone out? Severus looked around, clutching his aching head. The fires in the school never went out in the winter. There was complete silence all around him and he gave another shiver, though he didn’t think it was from the cold. Still groggy from sleep, he slid to his knees in front of the fireplace, trying to see why it had gone out.
As the last chime struck, the fire flared to life, the flames reaching six foot high yet burning nothing, it startled Severus so much that he fell backwards, shielding his eyes. The fire turned a sickly green and went out again. Severus moved his hands away, and the sight that greeted him was such, that he tried to back pedal on the floor to get away.
Lucius Malfoy was standing in Severus’s living room.

Nothing strange in that, except that he had died, seven years ago, that night. He looked exactly as Severus remembered him, tall and proud, with his platinum hair pulled back at the nape of neck, impeccably clean robes, and his snakehead cane. He was also completely transparent.

\"Severus, do stop gaping at me and get up, you look ridiculous,” said Lucius, rolling his eyes.

Severus was so shocked that he did as he was told and pulled himself back up into his chair. \"What the hell is going on?\" He said, his voice shaking. \"Lucius?\" He asked in a whisper.

\"Yes, yes, Severus, I know, I’m dead, but come on old boy, you cannot be surprised by this, you are surrounded by ghosts every day,\" said Lucius, sitting in the chair opposite Severus.

\"No,\" said Severus, starting to calm down, \"I just never thought I would see you as one.\"

Lucius snorted. \"Not my choice I assure you,\" he said, \"more of a punishment, for all my wrongdoings.\"

Severus gave a small smile. \"You were my best friend once, do you remember?\"

\"Oh don’t go all sentimental on me now Severus, you’ll need your strength for this,\" said Lucius, at Severus’s questioning look. \"You have been given a chance to redeem yourself, if you like, to change your path in life, before it is to late and trust me when I say you do not want to end up like this,\" Lucius snorted.

\"What are you talking about?\" snapped Severus. He was tired and hung over and just wanted his bed.

\"You will be haunted, by three spirits,” said Lucius, seriously.

\"Is this my chance?\" sneered Severus, sarcastically.

\"Don’t mock me.\" Lucius said in a dangerous tone. \"Without their help you will end up like me, not in this world and not in that, paying for what you have done, over and over, with no chance of redemption.\" He paused, \"the first will arrive tomorrow at one am.\"

\"Can’t you just send them all at once and get this over with?\" Asked Severus, starting to get a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach, which just got stronger as the fire reignited.

\"The second, the next night, same time,\" Lucius said, ignoring Severus, \"and the third, the next night at midnight. Do not forget Severus, what has been said here tonight, and look for me, no more.\"

Severus watched as the spirit of Lucius Malfoy slowly turned to green smoke and drifted into the fire.

He looked into the fire and saw faces, twisted and in pain, spirits, all of them. The miserable look on their faces was easy to read, they were sent to interfere, for the good of human life, and had lost the power forever.

The fire went out as quickly at it had started. Severus suddenly felt exhausted, whether from his encounter with his old friend, or the long day and late night, he didn’t know. He went straight to bed, still fully clothed and promptly fell asleep.


A/N : My step daughter is reading this at the moment and mentioned to me the other day, that she thought Ebeneezer Scrooge was just like Severus Snape, and then the bunnies attacked!!

Some of the lines used are quoted directly from \'A Christmas Carol\' by Charles Dickens.

If you like it let me know and I\'ll write more. If you don\'t then don\'t and I\'ll get the message!!

Kisses
GrrArrg