Title: The Trouble with Mistletoe

Author: Dark Phoenix

Summary: It's the Christmas season, and enchanted mistletoe has been popping up all over Hogwarts. What will happen when Harry finds himself under it with Draco Malfoy? Takes place in fifth year.

Pairings: Harry/Draco

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and am making no money from this.

Notes: This is a little bit of holiday fluff just for fun. Enjoy!

The Trouble with Mistletoe

Harry wondered how he always managed to get himself into these predicaments.

He thought he'd been careful. For the past few weeks, the twins had seemed unusually pleased with themselves, and Harry had kept a wary eye out until the enchanted mistletoe started randomly appearing all over Hogwarts. Then he'd made a point of looking up at the ceiling periodically, especially when he was in a crowd. He was well aware of the number of girls, and even a few boys, who seemed to be hovering around him lately, hoping to catch him off guard, he was sure.

But here he was, standing under a sprig of mistletoe with Draco Malfoy, of all people, trapped until the mistletoe was satisfied with their kiss.

Harry couldn't understand it. He'd been sure the hallway ceiling was clear only a moment ago. And then Malfoy had passed close by him and they'd been stuck here ever since then.

Ron and Hermione had been beside themselves with laughter once they realized what was going on. Fortunately, the hallway was otherwise deserted. So he and Malfoy had looked up at the mistletoe and then at each other with some annoyance, before Harry had leaned forward and given Malfoy a quick peck on the lips, thinking that would be enough.

It wasn't. Almost immediately, the mistletoe had let out a mocking laugh and said, "Oh, come on, you can do better than that."

Now Malfoy let out a sigh of disgust as he stood staring back at Harry. "Let's just do this already," he grumbled.

"Fine," said Harry, equally irritated. He tried not to think about what was happening as he and Malfoy leaned towards each other and pressed their lips together for a few seconds. Then they both looked up at the mistletoe hopefully.

The mistletoe let out a snort. "Are you kissing your grandmother? Put some feeling into it!"

I am going to murder the twins, Harry said to himself. Beside him, Hermione had taken out her wand and was waving it at the mistletoe.

"Looks like this is one of the more particular ones," she said. "You'll have to kiss each other for at least a minute before it lets you go."

Harry sighed. He would get stuck under an especially hard-to-please sprig of mistletoe with Malfoy. He knew the twins had enchanted the mistletoe in a variety of settings so that it was nearly impossible to know just what was necessary to get unstuck. Most of them at least had the decency to let the trapped pair go without practically forcing them to make out, however.

Naturally, Harry wasn't that lucky.

Malfoy was looking back at him with trepidation. Harry was close enough to see the tiny flecks of color in his gray eyes and smell his spicy cologne. He tried not to think about how intoxicating it was.

He closed his eyes briefly, steeling his nerves. "Okay," he said. "Let's just get this over with already."

He saw Malfoy roll his eyes and bite back some response, probably something along the lines of how unromantic Harry was being. Fidgeting slightly, he tried to psych himself up.

You can do this, he thought. Hermione said it's just for a minute. That's nothing.

Harry was still trying to talk himself into it when Malfoy sighed impatiently and pulled him close just before gently pressing his lips against Harry's. He was startled by the suddenness of it and the fact that Malfoy was kissing him for real this time, running one hand through Harry's hair and sliding his tongue along Harry's lips until he opened them to allow him access. Then, before he knew what he was doing, he was kissing Malfoy back with fervor.

Once the initial shock wore off, things quickly heated up. Harry was surprised by what a good kisser Malfoy was, and he responded eagerly, wrapping his arms around Malfoy and pressing tightly against him as their tongues danced with one another. At one point, he distinctly felt the magical box entrapping the two of them suddenly give way, but he was too consumed with Malfoy to care.

"Um, Harry?" He could hear Hermione next to him trying to get his attention, but it was as if she was speaking to him from some great distance, much too far away to be of any importance. "Harry? You guys are free to go now. The mistletoe is gone."

He barely heard her, too wrapped up in Malfoy to notice anything else. His hands slid along the bottom edge of Malfoy's shirt, lightly brushing against the bare skin beneath it, and Malfoy shivered.

He didn't know how long they stayed like that, but when he finally, reluctantly extracted himself from Malfoy's embrace, Ron and Hermione were gone. Standing before him, Malfoy looked like he was just waking up, blinking at Harry in confusion. In a daze, Harry looked up at where the mistletoe had been, only to find it had vanished.

"I guess we can go now," he said lamely.

"Right," said Malfoy, giving himself a hard shake. His eyes seemed to clear. "If you tell anyone about that, you're dead, Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Same to you, Malfoy," he said. They stared at each other for another minute, and it seemed to Harry as though they might throw themselves at one another once more, but just then, several Hufflepuffs walked by, and they quickly hurried off in opposite directions.

Harry shook his head as he made his way back to Gryffindor Tower. I need to have a serious talk with Fred and George, he thought.

"Oi! Harry!"

Harry turned to see two identical mischievous grins aimed at him. Well, at least I won't have to go looking for them, he thought, fixing them with what he hoped was a stern look.

"Just the guy we were looking for," said Fred cheerfully.

"Funny, I was looking for you, too," replied Harry.

Their grins grew even wider, if that was possible. "What a happy coincidence," said George.

Harry tried to frown. "I think you know something about that mistletoe I got stuck under earlier," he said.

"Indeed, we do," said Fred.

"It was an early Christmas gift -"

"Although the results were a bit unexpected, to say the least."

Now Harry did frown. "What do you mean?"

"Ron told us all about it," said George.

"Really, Harry, Draco Malfoy?" Fred raised an eyebrow.

Harry clenched his hands. "Would you please just tell me what you're talking about already?"

"Oh, of course, Harry," George said with mock consternation.

"That mistletoe we sent after you was a very . . . special mistletoe."

"It was the 'True Love' mistletoe," George clarified.

"Meant to appear only when you passed close by your one true love -"

"- your heart's secret desire -"

"- whether you knew who that person was or not," Fred finished.

"So, really, Harry - Draco Malfoy?"

Harry blushed and shook his head. "Well, your 'true love' mistletoe is obviously defective," he managed to say.

"Of course, Harry," said Fred knowingly. "It must be."

"Just don't forget to invite us to the wedding, okay?" George said with a wink.

Fin

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any reviews!

And (insert whichever holiday greeting you find least offensive here)!