Author's Note: Originally written for Strictly Dramione's Yuletide Magic Fest. Thank you to the moderators of Strictly Dramione for coordinating this fest and to LightofEvolution who continues to be the world's best support system and alpha/beta. Enjoy!

Draco couldn't decide which was worse: being stuck at Hogwarts for Christmas or being stuck at Hogwarts with Hermione Granger.

Just under a week ago, they had escorted the fortunate students who were free to go home for the holiday to the Hogwarts Express while subtle specks of snow gently fell from the sky and covered the Hogsmeade platform with a fresh coat of powder. Two third-year boys had stuck their heads out of one of the train's windows in attempt to catch snowflakes on their tongues. A small group of Slytherins and Ravenclaws had exchanged wrapped boxes that must have contained items they had purchased during the most recent Hogsmeade visit. And the Prefects had done a pitiful job maintaining any semblance of order as a stampede of students scurried to claim the best compartments for the journey home.

Nearly everyone had been in joyous spirits at the excitement of returning to their families for the winter holiday. But Draco did not have that luxury. While everyone else would wake up tomorrow morning surrounded by their loving parents and presents waiting under the tree, he was in the middle of spending his two weeks off from classes performing his required Head Boy duties with her.

"Pass me that wreath over there," Granger directed, motioning her head towards the arrangement of pine branches that rested on the floor next to the ladder she was on.

As Draco handed it to her, he made sure to do so with an accompanying sneer. "This would have been done ages ago if you didn't insist on doing it the Muggle way."

Granger huffed as she yanked the wreath out of his grip and began to position it on one of the doors leading into the Great Hall. "Since I'm not home for Christmas, I am going to do things the way that I would have done them if I was with my parents," she snapped, her cheeks starting to match the colouring of the bow adorning the wreath. "But if you have such a problem with my methods, be my guest and go back to the Slytherin common room. No one is forcing you to stay and watch."

As if McGonagall wouldn't have his head if she received word that he hadn't fulfilled even the most infinitesimal piece of his Head Boy duties!

"Forget it, Granger. Just hurry up and finish this last wreath before you squander any more of the free time I have left before our patrol tonight."

He made a show of turning away from her with an overly dramatic whip of his head as Granger returned her attention to hanging the wreath. Draco slowly inhaled through his nose and counted to three before releasing the breath and scrunching his eyes closed.

Stupid, stubborn Granger and her perpetual insistence of doing things her way! He'd had to endure it all bloody school year. Everything about her was infuriating. Her bossy attitude and constant need to be right. Her staunch unwillingness to change her mind once she had already reached a decision. Her habit of wrinkling her nose in disdain whenever he said something that even remotely challenged her. The list could go on for ages.

But what he hated the most about the witch was that despite all this, he still wasn't able to shake the way his heart clenched inside his chest every time they interacted.

Draco peered over his shoulder to sneak a look at her. Her bushy mass of curls was making it hard for him to get much of a look at what exactly she was tinkering with, but she was presently leaned over, making her legs look infinitely longer than usual. His gaze lingered for only a fraction of a second before he reverted his attention away from her, cursing at himself under his breath. Why had he even bothered to look? He knew nothing good would come from it.

His feelings towards her had been easier to ignore when they didn't have to constantly work together. But after four years of these recurring unwanted emotions, he had become quite the master of swallowing them down until they eventually disappeared, only to inevitably return months later. Surely that would be the case this time as well. And until then, he would just have to continue pretending as though he truly did despise her.

"Is it centred?"

Draco donned his usual sneer as he turned back around, folding his arms across his chest for good measure. "It's good enough," he spat in response, even though he couldn't find anything wrong with its placement. "Now are you satisfied with the Christmas decor?"

The ladder faintly creaked at the weight of Granger's feet as she proceeded down the steps. "Just one more thing." She pulled out her wand, and after a twist of her wrist, snowfall started to sprinkle down from above, only to fade into nothingness before it could touch either of them. It was impressive charm work - not that he would tell her that.

Instead, he settled on another sneer. "What happened to doing everything the Muggle way?"

"Certain things can only be done with magic," she returned with a taunting grin. Her wand's tip met the wood of the ladder, and with a sharp tap, the ladder shrunk to no bigger than the size of a Chocolate Frog card. Granger stashed it in her pocket and then faced Draco. "Well, that's the last of it. Just be back here at nine o'clock sharp for our patrol."

Without any more of a goodbye, Granger turned on her heels and proceeded down the corridor in impressive haste. Draco longed to storm away with equal conviction, but his legs were locked in place as his attention was glued to the way her hair billowed behind her. Only once she was out of sight was he able to snap himself out of it and head downstairs to his own common room.

He groaned as his hand ran down the holly-lined bannister. It was moments like this he highly regretted agreeing to be Head Boy - and it wasn't because of McGonagall's last minute request for more Christmas decorations. Patrol had been a simple enough task during the regular term. With so many Prefects serving a similar role, he and Granger usually only had to partner once, at most twice, a week. But now that every single Prefect had opted to return home for the holiday, they had no other option than to spend each evening in tension-filled company as they monitored the empty halls.

"Snakeweed," Draco grumbled when he approached the entrance. The concealed stone door slid open, permitting Draco entry into the welcomed solitude of the Slytherin common room, and he promptly fell back onto one of the black leather sofas with a long, exasperated sigh.

"Let me guess. Granger problems?"

Draco startled at the unexpected sound of Blaise's voice as the man's head came peeking into sight from behind one of the high-backed chairs in front of the fireplace.

"Leave me alone," Draco griped, dragging two heavy hands down the length of his face.

"Says the man who practically begged me to stay at Hogwarts with him over the holiday." Blaise arose from the chair and settled on the second couch opposite Draco. "I recall something along the lines of," - his voice went up an octave as he said in a mocking tone - "'Please, please, please, for the love of all things magic, don't make me stay here with her alone.'"

"Shove off," Draco spat. He shifted onto his side so his back was now turned to his friend and added, "And for the record, I didn't grovel like that."

"So I embellished a bit," the other wizard returned with a blasé breeze. "But let's get back to the point. What evil and wicked thing did Granger do now? Did she turn the page of a book too loud? Not grip her wand tight enough when casting some spell? Take too long to walk up the stairs in front of you? Or were you too busy pretending you hate her to notice anything else?"

"I said, shove off!"

Blaise chuckled, evidently amused by Draco's sour mood. "How long are you going to keep denying to yourself that this little infatuation of yours isn't ever going to permanently disappear until you actually do something about it? Don't you think it's high time you just shag the witch and get her out of your system?"

Draco promptly forced himself to sit up so his friend could see his snarl. "You do know this is Hermione Granger we're talking about, right?"

"And you do know I've had to endure your endless complaints about her for the past four years, right? Granger this, Granger that. Granger, Granger, Granger. You really ought to have been more subtle if you didn't want me figuring it out."

"And I really ought to have just let you go home for the holidays with your mum and new dad," Draco retorted. "What's this? Pop number eight? Nine?"

"Nice try, but we're not changing the topic until we settle this. The way I see it, you have two options. Either A, you hate-fuck the witch and finally move on, or B, and bear with me because it might be a radical idea, but you could, I don't know, actually try being mildly nice to her."

Draco scoffed. "There's a greater chance of my father selling the Manor to a Muggle than that second one happening." He shook his head back and forth. This was the last conversation he wanted to have right now, especially considering he now had less than an hour until he had to return to feigning animosity in her presence. "Just - just drop it."

And with that, Draco pushed himself off the couch cushion and went to the seventh and eighth year's boy's dormitory, which thankfully was otherwise currently unoccupied for the winter holiday besides Blaise and himself. Draco crashed onto his mattress and closed his eyes, but within seconds, less than tasteful thoughts started to cross his mind thanks to Blaise's suggestion. Not that this was the first time he had ever considered what it would be like if he and Granger ever -

Draco shoved a pillow over his face in a feeble attempt to banish the images from his mind. He was so bloody tired of this. After four years, Draco wanted nothing more than to finally be rid of these thoughts.

Well, that actually wasn't what he wanted the most. But what he really desired, he knew Granger would never agree to. The war may be over, but it was evident that her animosity towards him hadn't faded in the slightest. Blaise could chastise him until the hippogriffs came home, but Draco had no intention of being the one to change the antagonistic nature of their relationship. At this point, acting mean to her was just second nature. Self-preservation. His way to combat the feelings that resurfaced every few months. Besides, the feelings would eventually fade away again. They always did.

Although he feared it might not be that easy this time around.

Not sure what else to do, Draco retrieved his Potions textbook from within his trunk and got to reading the next chapter in preparation for next term. It was the only thing he could think of that would get his mind to focus on anything other than Granger.

Of course that couldn't last long when he was due to meet up with her again so soon.

At ten minutes till nine, Draco returned the book to his trunk and whisked past Blaise who was still sitting in the common room, tauntingly chuckling at Draco as he exited the safety of the dungeons. He proceeded up the stairs and down the main first-floor corridor, and as expected, Granger was already in front of the Great Hall, not-so-patiently waiting for him.

"Let's make this fast," she clipped the moment he was within hearing distance. "I'd like to get back to my dorm at a reasonable hour."

Draco felt his upper lip twitch, and he immediately fell back into his usual sneering habit. "What's the matter, Granger? Afraid that if you're up too late, Santa won't stop by Gryffindor Tower this evening?"

She shot him her predictable sharp glare but did not utter a response. Instead, she folded her arms across her chest with a huff and started down the path of the patrol route, prompting Draco to run to catch up with her.

Hogwarts was always eerily quiet in the early hours of the night. Most students were wise enough to stay within their respective house chambers once curfew started. Of course, there were always the few stray students who risked meeting up for a moonlit rendezvous, but anyone who was old enough to partake in such activities was typically wise enough to cast a Silencing Charm to make it more difficult to spot them. But tonight was even quieter than usual. Although, that was to be expected when ninety-five per cent of the student body was at home in their own beds.

He and Granger continued to roam around the castle, climbing various staircases and wandering down the multitude of corridors, uncomfortable silence ensuing. Typically by this point in the night, Draco had found some excuse to talk to her, usually a reaction to something they had caught a student doing out of bed or a remark about the day's lessons. Naturally, the comment would be short and fraught with supposed disdain, but it was enough to help pass the time and, despite his best wishes, satiate his heart's desire to have even the slightest interaction with her. But with hardly any students left in the castle and no classes to discuss, he couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse for them to speak, so he resigned himself to no conversation at all.

Time slowly trickled on, and Draco was growing anxious. He did his best to prevent his feelings from bubbling back to the surface, but they were proving harder to fend off than a Hungarian Horntail. Every few seconds, Draco furtively glanced in her direction, catching the way the moonlight illuminated the soft features of her face. He only risked letting his vision settle or a fraction of a second, yet during his most recent glimpse, he must have lingered too long because Granger's eyes temporarily met his before they both whipped their heads in the opposite direction.

Why of all people in the castle was this the witch that continued to invade his thoughts? Merlin knew Pansy would happily fall into his arms if he ever showed any further interest in her, but truth be told, he had never fancied her that much to begin with. Pansy was shallow and narrow-minded, good for a shag but not for anything lasting. What he craved was someone who would challenge him, both intellectually and emotionally. And apparently, some part of him had decided that Granger was the one who fit that bill.

Yes, well, too bad nothing was ever going to happen between them.

Two hours and not a single word later, they cycled back around to the entrance of the Great Hall, rendering their patrol complete. Draco was just about to make some snarky comment about how she better scurry off to bed before the reindeer landed on the Astronomy Tower, when Granger suddenly descended into unexpected outrage.

"This most certainly was not here when we left!"

Her cheeks flared red and she reached into her pocket and re-enlarged the wooden ladder, hastily climbing the rungs. It took a few moments for Draco to figure out what exactly had prompted her frenzy, but then he noticed the offending sprig of mistletoe that was hanging just over the Great Hall's door frame.

Someone must have managed to sneak past them and decided this would be an amusing prank to pull on the castle's remaining inhabitants before tomorrow's Christmas feast. If he had to guess, it was most likely that fifth year Peter Kelley. Merlin knew Draco had already taken plenty of points away from him that school year for similarly juvenile antics.

Granger reached up to yank the mistletoe free, but despite her firm grip, it did not budge. She tried a few more times with no different results.

"Need I remind you that not everything should be done the Muggle way?' Draco clipped.

He was once more confronted with her signature glare, but despite her annoyance, she retrieved her wand and cast an Unsticking Charm. Yet the mistletoe remained firmly locked in place.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Let me have a go at it."

Granger jumped down from the final few steps of the ladder and shrunk it back into her pocket while Draco made his own attempts to remove the mistletoe. But try as he may, nothing changed.

"It must be a Permanent Sticking Charm," Draco concluded, tucking his wand away. "Just leave it and let McGonagall deal with it in the morning."

Granger paused, seemingly displeased with that prospect. If he had to guess, he suspected that she wasn't too keen on the idea of having to admit to McGonagall that one of the younger students had been able to outsmart them. But to his surprise, she did not protest.

"Fine. I'll make sure to bring it to her attention first thing in the morning," she settled. "In which case, I'm off to bed."

"Good," Draco bitterly returned, although admittedly relieved that he didn't have to spend one more second underneath a piece of mistletoe with her. The mere concept behind it was far too uncomfortable if you asked him.

They both turned away from the other and began walking in opposite directions, but Draco only made it a few steps before he collided with something obstructing his path, causing him to crash onto the cold stone tiling. Problem was, he couldn't see anything in his way.

"What the hell was that?" he spat.

As Draco regained his footing, he looked behind him to find Granger in a similar position on the ground, only instead of confusion etched across her features, her lips were curled into a snarl.

"Oh, this is not happening!" she fumed. She once more made the ladder full-sized, ascended to its top, looked at the mistletoe more carefully, and then returned next to Draco, hands gripped at her sides in clenched fists. "I am going to murder him the next time I see him!"

"I'm almost positive that it's clearly stated in the Head Boy and Girl handbook that the murdering of other students is strictly prohibited. But if you're referring to Kelley, I'm willing to turn a blind eye," Draco retorted with a mild grin, but if she heard him, Granger did not respond.

Her anger growing more apparent by the second, she once more retrieved her wand and flung a myriad of spells in the mistletoe's direction, but none of them did any good.

"Ugh!" Granger released with a long, frustrated cry. "I told George how terrible I thought his idea was, but he swore to me that -"

Before she finished her thought, she hurled another spell at the mistletoe, a streak of vibrant flames coming out of the tip of her wand. It only took a few moments for smoke to start to accumulate around them, and it became obvious that he and Granger were stuck inside some sort of invisible bubble underneath the mistletoe.

Upon drawing this conclusion, Draco quickly retrieved his own wand and countered her spell with a jet of water. "Are you trying to suffocate us?" he sneered through a fit of coughing to rid the smoke from his lungs. He waved his wand again and cleared the air. "We're obviously trapped inside this thing, and if you had kept that up much longer, we would have choked to death! But what was that about Weasley? What do you know, Granger, that I don't?"

She hesitated before answering, "That's not ordinary mistletoe. It's a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes product. And to our great misfortune, it's designed to keep us here until we kiss."

Draco nearly choked on another harsh cough, only this time, he didn't have the smoke to blame. Was this a fucking joke?

Granger folded her arms across her chest and turned her back to him, adding with a snarl, "And obviously that's not going to happen, so we'll just have to figure something else out."

Right, obviously.

Or perhaps this could be his chance. It wasn't exactly what Blaise had suggested, but maybe if he just simply kissed her, it would be enough to finally pull him out of this yearnful haze. And she'd never have to know how much he truly craved to have those lush lips pressed against his.

Draco cleared his throat and decided to risk it. "Or we could just kiss and get this over with."

She whipped her head back around, her eyes wide at the audacity of his suggestion. "Absolutely not!" she cried. "No, no, no. I'll think of something. Anything else. There's got to be another solution!"

It was impossible to ignore the way his heart dropped at how adamantly she had refused, but he would have been foolish to anticipate any other response. Yet that didn't make it sting any less that she found the thought of kissing him so repulsive that she wouldn't even do it just to get them out of this situation.

He leaned against the invisible barrier and silently observed as Granger began to pace back and forth within their small confinement. She was mumbling to herself, the gears in her mind turning quickly as she tried to work through their predicament. Every few seconds, inspiration seemed to hit, but every flick, swish, and turn of her wand proved futile. They were still stuck.

Suddenly, something snapped inside of Granger. "This is just ridiculous!" she seethed, her voice so loud, it actually caused the surrounding bubble to shake. She released another exasperated groan before repeatedly banging her head against the enclosure.

Draco hated the way his heart sunk at the sight of seeing her so distraught.

"It's just a kiss, Granger. It - It doesn't have to mean anything."

She glared at him in response, but at least she ceased the banging.

"You may go around kissing people willy-nilly, but I am not like that! And besides, it's the principle! People shouldn't get trapped in a bubble and then be forced to kiss, which is exactly why I made George promise that the mistletoe's charm would only be activated if it detected that both parties were consenting!"

Draco perked up. "You made him promise that?"

"Yes!" she cried. "And you know what makes matters worse? He agreed! But clearly he didn't if you and I of all people are stuck here!"

"But what if he kept his promise?"

Granger scoffed. "It doesn't do us any good if some of his products are faulty."

Draco was trying hard not to keep his hopes up. There was absolutely no way, right? And yet...

He swallowed. "Or what if…"

"Or what if what, Malfoy?"

"What if…"

He pushed himself upright and let his expression soften as he took a step closer to her. She continued to glare at him with harsh confusion, but as he grew nearer, her demeanour started to shift, and he noticed a familiar glimmer of longing that he recognised from himself.

And that's when he knew.

"Or what if -"

He closed his eyes, and without questioning it any further, Draco leaned in and let the warmth of her lips connect with his.

It was the moment he had craved all those years, and now that he had tasted her, he had no clue how he had denied himself for so long. He didn't want it to end. But at the same time, there was still a small voice in the back of his mind reminding him that there was still a possibility that he had misread the situation.

When Draco reluctantly pulled away, he braced himself just in case she was about to hurl a Stinging Hex at him, but to his relief, he found that her eyes were still closed and her lips remained wistfully parted. Eventually, she peered up at him, her eyes twinkling in disbelief.

"But I thought -"

That was all the confirmation he needed.

Draco grabbed the fabric of her blouse and pulled her in as close as he could manage, and without letting another moment pass, sealed their lips together once more. Her resulting hum tingled against his lips as she draped her arms over his shoulders and deepened the connection. The addicting sensation of her full lips against his was enough to spark a surge of desire to rush over him and ignite a now insatiable fire. And if her muffled mewls were any indication, he was not alone in that regard.

At some point, the barrier must have disappeared, because he now had her slammed against the wall. He cupped both hands against her cheeks and slipped his tongue inside while she gripped the length of his tie until his chest was flush against hers.

"I've been wanting to do this nearly all year," she gasped between fervent kisses.

Draco barely paused long enough to smirk. "For once, I've got you beat on something, Granger."

Her breathing hitched as he trickled kisses down the length of the slender column of her throat before landing on the exposed skin near her collarbone. The warmth of her skin radiated under his lips. It was completely intoxicating. And Draco knew then there was absolutely no chance that simply kissing her would be enough.

He started battling with the buttons of her blouse while Granger fumbled with the knot of his tie. This was exactly the type of thing they were supposed to stop students from doing so publicly in the corridors, but right now, his Head Boy duties were the farthest thing from Draco's mind. McGonagall could give him detention, take away his badge, kick him out of Hogwarts, whatever the bloody hell she wanted if she caught them. He had no intentions of stopping any time soon - not after he and Granger had both been waiting for so long.

But then he heard the distant sound of something crashing onto the floor.

"KISS! When you see mistletoe, all you're supposed to do is kiss, not -"

Granger promptly tore herself away. It was worse than McGonagall.

"Harry! What are you - How are you -"

Potter stood there awkwardly in the middle of the corridor. "I knew you weren't going to make it to the Burrow tomorrow, and McGonagall said you had patrol with Malfoy tonight, so I thought I'd come find you and surprise you with your Christmas present, but apparently I was the one in for a surprise tonight!"

He appeared to have a great deal more to say, but instead he stormed off, mumbling something about needing to get his memory obliviated.

Once the other wizard was out of sight, Draco removed himself from Granger's grasp only long enough for him to pick up the wrapped gift that Potter had left behind.

"I'm not sure what Potter got you, but I can already assure you that my present will be infinitely better than his," Draco said as he handed it to her.

Granger tilted her head. "You got me something?"

"Not yet," he returned with a suggestive grin. "But I have something in mind."

Maybe being stuck at Hogwarts for Christmas wasn't so bad after all.

Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think :) Also, to those of you who are patiently waiting for the next update for Somewhere Down the Line, you can totally blame this piece right here for the delay, but I promise the next chapter is in the works and will hopefully be posted soon :) Happy holidays!