Disclaimer: Rowling was greedy this Christmas and would not share ownership of Harry Potter. The nerve!

A Christmas Carol

.;.The Magical Way.;.

Part 4 .;. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

Knowing what to expect, she closed her eyes patiently and stood with them closed until she felt the tip of Malfoy’s finger poke her shoulder. Smirking inwardly, she kept her eyes closed, giving no sign of having noticed him. This time, he poked her twice, the last one a sharp jab in her upper arm. She wanted to chuckle, but bit her lip to not give away her reaction.

“I AM…” he suddenly yelled in her ear, and her eyes shot open in surprise just in time to see him run around in her flat, flapping his transparent hands while willing his cloak to billow even more, “THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COOOME.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him in exasperation.

“A bit overkill, don’t you think?”

“It’s my last chance,” he reasoned, a slight pout forming on his lip as he came to rest next to her again.

She didn’t answer him, since her gaze had dropped to something lying sprawled on the floor. Her mouth fell open and she recoiled in disgust, her mind willing her to look away. She just couldn’t. Her eyes were transfixed on the figure on the floor.

“You sick bastard!”

Malfoy met her enraged gaze with a calm demeanour, the playful look in his eyes now completely gone.

“You rotten, deranged bastard,” she breathed, her eyes once again pulled toward the figure on the floor, one that was definitely herself, but years older.

“We’re all going to die, Granger,” he said, his voice softer than what he usually displayed. “If you continue down this path, this is how it will happen for you.”

“What do you mean?”she enquired, not bothering to hide her distress anymore.

Her voice was thick with the tears building. She noticed a cat resembling Crookshanks sitting next to her older self’s body, making distressed sounds, pawing her desperately. The lump in her throat increased.

“If you continue to shut people out of your life, you’ll die alone, Granger. I’m not trying to be a heartless git here; I’m being as honest as I can. If you continue to shut Potter and Weasley and their families out, they’ll eventually stop trying. And all you’ll have left is Crookshanks the fifth.”

He watched her as she breathed heavily, tears forming in her eyes as she stared transfixed at the scene in front of her. Finally, he had pushed a button, but now he didn’t know if he was prepared for the reaction it would cause.

“Oh my God,” she said with a tremble in her voice, and she fell to her knees on the floor.

“Granger?”

He put a tentative hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t even flinch against his touch.

“I’m sorry, Granger, I didn’t think about how rattling this would be, I...”

“No,” she suddenly said with sudden force. “You’re right.”

“Uh...what?”

He looked at her, his eyebrows knitted in a frown, never having known she even knew how to string those words together to make the sentence.

“You’re right,” she said, pushing herself up from the floor, causing his hand to fall limply from her shoulder. “You’re absolutely right. Maybe it’s too late...”

He shook his head vigorously, making his transparent hair bounce against his forehead.

“It’s not, which is why I made an alternate future for you to see.”

“Wait,” she said softly, when he was about to move them to another reality.

He looked at her quizzically, watching her as she stared at her older self.

“I died alone?” she asked, fighting the panic lodged in her stomach.

“Yes.”

“And Crookshanks the fifth is the only one who found me?”

“Yes.”

She let out a rattling breath.

“You have to remember that I’m not clairvoyant, Granger. This is me trying to tell you that pushing people away means that you will eventually succeed. And when you do succeed, there’ll be no one there.”

“But it’s not too late?” Hermione asked, thoughts whirling inside her head now after the numbness of panic had receded slightly.

“Merlin, no,” he replied, smirking. “This was only one of the futures I plan to show you.”

She nodded slowly, removing her gaze from the upsetting image on the floor, fixing it then on him in his transparent form. She took a deep breath – and then launched herself at him, beating her fists against his chest while snarls of anger bubbled up through her throat.

“ow,” he cried, trying to grab her wrists unsuccessfully. “Ow! Calm the hell down, Granger, I’m not actually a ghost; you’re frigging hurting me.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do!” she hissed between gritted teeth, punching his shoulder.

He cried out again and darted in the opposite direction, prompting her to follow him while lashing out against him. She got in occasional hits as she chased him around, his indignant yells bouncing off the walls.

“I can’t believe you showed me my own dead body!” she bellowed, punching him so hard in the back that he fell over.

He managed to turn around just in time to avoid getting his nose crushed to the floor. Tumbling onto his back with a thud, he grabbed her leg and pulled her down to the floor with him. She trashed in his grip, angry snarls erupting from her throat again.

“I’m sorry it was upsetting, but at least I got a reaction out of you at last!” he said, managing to decrease her writhing. “At least you’re not being numb and cold anymore. You’re actually showing some normal reactions for once.”

With that she sat up at once, her anger evaporated. He was right. When was the last time she had been truly angry? Truly, all-consumingly angry? Angry, without trying to suppress it and forget it? She felt his grip on her foot loosen and she took a deep breath, feeling her emotions clearer than she had in years. How long had she been this numb?

“So there is another memory?” she asked, watching him lay sprawled on the floor in his weird semi-transparent form.

“If you want it,” he replied, pushing up on his elbows.

“What’s in it?”

“You celebrating Christmas with Potter and Weasley and their family. You and your little daughter.”

“You gave me a daughter?” she asked incredulously, her mind reeling with images of a future that had seemed so far away for so long.

“Yeah, why not?” he enquired, looking at her with raised eyebrows. “If you truly did change and let people back in your life, why wouldn’t you let someone in enough to start your own family?”

“Who’s her father?” she asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Like I’ve said, I’m not psychic. I didn’t give her a father,” he answered dryly, pushing himself up from the floor and holding his hand out to her. “Would you like to see it?”

She took his hand and moved from the floor, dusting herself off. She looked up at him with her eyebrows knitted in a frown.

“No, I don’t think so,” she said slowly.

She gave no reasons, and he didn’t push her for them.

“Right, then. I’ll just take you home.”

She noticed the melancholy in his voice, and she smiled at the small pout forming on his lips.

“You’re sad it’s over, aren’t you?” she said, laughing merrily at his sullen expression.

“Well, being a ghost is way more fun than I imagined. Aside from the physical assault part.”

“Maybe you can take this up as a fulltime job,” she suggested jokingly, trying not to look at the figure sprawled on the floor next to them.

“Not too bad of an idea, Granger,” he replied, and then noticed her unease. “Let’s go back.”

The world once again turned unfocused before her eyes and within seconds the same image of her flat, but without the rotting corpse on the floor. Once she opened her eyes, she saw the flat through Malfoy’s eyes. Moderately clean, but dusty. Void of anything that could resemble Holiday cheer. It was void of emotion, just like she was.

The clock struck midnight and she raised her eyebrow in question.

“See, we weren’t even gone for a minute,” he said proudly, tapping his chest.

“I saw you turn it back,” she stated dryly. “It’s 2 AM.”

He glared at her, and she rolled her eyes in return.

“Stop ruining the fun,” he said sullenly, suddenly rocketing backwards as Crookshanks came hurtling out from beside the couch.

“Go home, Malfoy,” she said exasperatedly as she lifted Crookshanks into her arms.

He glared at Crookshanks, lifted the Apparition wards and Disapparated seconds later.

A/N: part 4 is complete, and the only thing left is part 5! I’m planning to have that done in a couple of days, even if this took longer than expected.

Thanks for all the reviews :D