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Molly Weasley has to say that the muggle ghost residing part time at Hogwarts intrigued her. She first heard about him in Ron’s letter home. She was sure that Ron must’ve gotten some misinformation, because muggle ghosts were simply unheard of. Then she heard about him from Ginny, who had tracked him down with her Ravenclaw friend, Luna. Then from Fred and George who convinced him to join in on a prank war. In Ginny’s latest letter, she wrote that the Ravenclaws were trying to figure out why the muggle ghost hated Christmas so much. Some even speculated that he had died around Christmas. It broke Molly Weasley’s heart to think of such a young kid having such animosity for her favorite family holiday.
Molly Weasley looked at her knitting needles. She had stowed them away since she thought she had finished making gifts for this year. Ron did say that the peculiar ghost could touch objects. She would have to find some green yarn. Not a color she liked, but she was told it was his favorite.
She quickly penned a letter to her children at Hogwarts. Between the four of them and Harry and Hermione, one of them was bound to deliver her message. Now they had to alter their Christmas plans. Sirius would be glad to be out of the house, even if he was only going to the Burrow.
Christmas preparations at the Burrow were well underway. Alastor Moody hadn’t approved of moving Sirius out of Grimmauld Place, he claimed it was too dangerous and that the Burrow didn’t have the necessary preparations for trouble like the Order’s headquarters did.
The Burrow had survived seven children and Arthur Weasley, who had a fondness for strange and unusual muggle items that tended to backfire near magic. Bill liked breaking curses, and had spent many nights as a teen trial and erroring his way around cursed objects. Charlie had a fascination with dragons and had attempted to bring his work home several times. ‘Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709’ was cross-stitched on several pillows as a reminder. Percy, while a rule follower who was currently breaking his mother’s heart, had argued his way out of many groundings as a child. Fred and George were self-explanatory. Ron made it a habit to stand up for others by swinging the first punch. And Ginny could out-hex them all. In Molly Weasley’s expert opinion, if the Burrow had survived all of that, it could survive anything.
Still, she had to admit, it was getting rather crowded. Tonks had nearly knocked over her good china earlier. She was grateful for such a full house of people who were like family to her, but it was nice to have some peace and quiet. She was currently enjoying her alone time. She had finished the last gift, and Arthur was at the Department of Mysteries, doing a shift. Nothing to worry about.
Fawkes burst through her bedroom window carrying a note.
Molly rushed to St Mungos.
The next few days were a blur.
In fact, Molly had completely forgotten about inviting the young ghost until he showed up at her door on Christmas Eve.
Molly opened the door to see a young boy standing on her front porch, holding a hastily wrapped Christmas present. At least Molly assumed it was a Christmas present, with a closer look she saw it was covered in birthday wrapping paper. And on second glance the boy was not standing, but hovering just a few inches off the ground.
Molly smiled. “You must be Danny, come on in.” Molly stepped aside to let the young ghost in.
Molly took in his appearance. He looked very human, but if you looked closer you could tell his skin had a slight blue tint and his eyes reflected light. And of course the fact that his feet never touched the ground.
“Uhhh, thank you, ma’am.” He looked nervous. He awkwardly handed her the gift. “This is for you. It’s not much, but Ron mentioned it’s something Mr. Weasley might like. Sorry, about him getting hurt by the way.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t have,” Molly tutted around. “Are you staying for Christmas, dear?”
“Uh, no. The ghosts back home throw a party every year. The one day of the year we don’t try to fight each other,” Danny said.
“In that case, why don’t you go ahead and give that to Mr. Weasley and have him open it. That way we can thank you in person,” Molly said.
As Danny floated into the other room, Molly got lost in her thoughts.
Seeing the young, dead boy broke Molly’s heart. She couldn’t help but wonder how long he had been dead, and if somewhere around the world there were parents missing their child tonight. She couldn’t fathom losing a child. It was a pain beyond all other. It hurt enough that Percy wasn't currently speaking to them, but she still held out hope that their family would be mended. To have lost a child permanently? Molly’s heart went out to Danny’s family, who went through the unimaginable.
From the doorway, she watched Arthur unwrap the present. Her children gathered around closely, while the rest of the order watched from farther away, taking in the intriguing sight of the muggle ghost.
Arthur gasped in surprise.
Molly craned her neck to try to get a better view of what was in the box.
“Is this?” Arthur trailed off. He held up the gift. It was nearly as large as his head. “A rubber duck?”
Arthur laughed, a welcome sound. Ever since the attack, he had tried to keep spirits up, but Molly could tell it was half-hearted.
“Ron mentioned something about rubber ducks.” Danny rubbed the back of his head. “And it was the largest one I could find.”
“This is wonderful, Danny. Now, I must ask,” Arthur’s voice turned serious. “What exactly is the function of a rubber duck?”
“Dad, really?” Ron groaned.
Ginny’s face flushed.
Danny paused for a moment, looking like he was seriously contemplating the answer. “I don’t know. Do they need to have a function to be enjoyed? They just exist, and it makes people happy. I think that’s enough of a function.”
Arthur nodded, satisfied with his answer. “They exist to bring joy, a noble purpose. A purpose that this fellow is succeeding in. Thank you, young man.”
The crowd around the couch dispersed and Molly saw Danny sneak off with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
Molly was glad they had met. It was good for Danny to be around the school, plenty of students his age. It must be hard for a young ghost like himself to find peers his age to be with, he must be lonely. She was glad he had the Christmas party with the other ghosts, but was concerned about this ‘beating each other up’ business. She supposed ghosts couldn’t be seriously injured, but her mothering instincts still kept her worried.
Molly had lost track of time when Danny appeared again.
“I really should be heading out, I don’t want to be late, but I wanted to thank you for inviting me,” the boy said.
“Of course, Danny.” Molly wanted to hug him, but wasn’t sure how that would go over. “You are welcome over anytime. Here, before I forget, your present!”
“My present?” Danny asked.
“I can’t let a friend of my kids leave empty handed. Go ahead, open it,” Molly insisted.
Danny tentatively tore through the brown wrapping.
Molly had reused paper bags and Christmas ribbon to make it festive and cost friendly.
Danny held up the sweater, emerald green with a D in the center of the chest. It was a bit tricky to match the stylized font on Danny’s normal shirt, but Molly was up for the challenge.
“Wow,” Danny was speechless. “You made this? It’s amazing. Thank you!”
Molly shrugged off the compliment. “It’s nothing really. Can’t have my kids’ friends out in the cold without proper layers.”
Danny smirked at that.
“I really appreciate this, and uh, thanks for having me.” Danny awkwardly waved before zooming off.
In the distance, Molly could see a dark green blur against the sky.