Chestnuts and Mistletoe

Blaise's POV

I wasn't originally going to go home for the holidays; I don't actually like Christmas that much. I mean, it's okay, but I think people take advantage of it. It's nice to sing Christmas carols around the fire with family and friends, but people rig Secret Santa, and people complain if their present isn't exactly like they wanted it. It's the thought that counts, right? Well, no body thinks that anymore. All they care about is the presents, not the fun family friend time. So, I don't particularly care for Christmas.

I'm not too fond of mistletoe, either. I always try to avoid it as best as I can, because it's strung up everywhere in the hallway. Still, every year some girl drags me under the mistletoe against my will. Patil did it in my fourth year, Parkinson in my third. At least whenever I kissed them it was more they kissed me. I was never purposely caught under the mistletoe with a girl, and they never caught me accidentally, because I know how to avoid mistletoe.

Of course, my fifth year didn't go as planned. Completely accidentally, I ended up under mistletoe with a girl I barely even knew who invited me to her house for Christmas in the end. Of course, you probably want to hear what happened.

It was all sort of odd and rushed. I was doing a look out think for Professor Umbridge to try and find that stupid secret organization that was plotting against the Ministry. I knew a little bit about what they were doing; a couple of years ago, I needed to get to Potions and I really needed to go, but there weren't any near the quickest path to Potions. Suddenly, there was a door right next to me with a bathroom. I had informed Professor Umbridge that I believed that they were using the Room of Requirements, so I knew where the door should be. I had walked across the area the door should be so many times, thinking about what I needed to do. However, the room never let me in.

Today, however, the door appeared. I thrust it open eagerly, expecting a crowd of students there learning illegal spells. However, there was only one girl. She had long, dirty blonde hair and twinkling blue eyes. She was practicing some spells on toy dummies. She saw me, and she went slightly pink.

"Oh. I thought I had learned how to seal it off from intruders," she muttered, stuffing her wand back in her robes. She shrugged. "Oh well. I'll just be going, now."

"Wait a minute!" I exclaimed, blocking her way. "You can't go! What were you going?"

"Practicing some Charms spells," she answered. "I can't figure out the answer to the raven's riddle, so I came up here to practice instead."

Ravenclaw, I thought. It didn't seem as though anything was wrong, though I was sure that there was still something going on. Still, I didn't have any evidence. I couldn't give her detention for practicing Charms spells.

"Well," the girl announced brightly, "Daddy promised to send me an early Christmas present today! I hope it's that crumple-horned snorkack model I wanted!"

Her named finally came to mind. "You're Luna Lovegood."

She nodded. "Though lately, I've been called Loony Lovegood. In History of Magic, Professor Binns wanted us to write a paper on garden gnomes and their uses. Most people don't think they have any uses, but Daddy told me that there was a study that says garden gnomes are very useful, and their saliva has healing powers. No body believes me, though." She shrugged. "I don't really care, though. What really gets me mad is when they steal my stuff…"

Luna rambled on, and I listened patiently. I didn't know why I listened; I could have just turned around and left, or I could have jinxed her just to shut her up, or I could have kissed her. I shook myself. Did I actually think that? I banished the thought and continued listening to her tell about her dad's quest to find the Deathly Hallows. It was so easy to listen to her, as she did most of the talking. Her breath smelled like peppermint.

Luna paused. "Are you okay? You're not talking a lot."

"I'm more of a listener," I reassured her. "Of course, you don't give me a lot of space to talk, anyways," I added jokingly.

Luna went slightly pink again. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay," I told her. "I like listening to you ramble on."

Luna smiled and she looked like an angel on top of a Christmas tree, she glowed so much. "Thank you! It's rare that I find someone who's willing to listen to me. So, as I was saying…"

Luna continued to talk and talk, and I listened obediently. I highly doubted half the things she said existed actually did, but at least she wasn't like the average Ravenclaw who can't help but yell at you when you spell bezoar wrong and slap you upside the head if you don't know the difference between two different types of dragons.

"You're a different kind of Ravenclaw. You use logic to try and prove what can't exist, not what's already been proven."

Now, it was my turn to go pink. I had meant to only think that, but the words had tumbled out of my mouth like water. Luna stopped and looked at me. I expected her to slap me for interrupting her, but instead she smiled.

"You're the first person I've met who understood that." Her smile faltered. "Who are you?"

"Blaise Zabini," I answered. Her smile wavered even more. "What's wrong?"

"Mistletoe," she whispered, pointing to a spot right above my head.

"What?" I cried. I looked up. There was indeed mistletoe growing from the ceiling. I blushed scarlet red.

"Go on," Luna encouraged, "lean."

Slightly bemused, I leaned forward. She did too, and we kissed. It was a quick peck; she still tasted like peppermint. It was over as soon as it had started. This time, though, we both looked bewildered.

"Well," Luna coughed, breaking the eerie silence. "Do you want to come to my house for Christmas? I'm sure Daddy won't mind."

"It'll just be us?" I asked. "No Secret Santa or excessive presents or whining if the presents aren't big enough?"

Luna shook her head. "It'll just be us sharing butterbeer, exchanging small gifts and the chestnuts roasting."

"The chestnuts?" I echoed.

"Yeah." Luna nodded. "We love to roast chestnuts on our fire place. They don't taste so good, but they give off this Holiday-ish aura, you know?"

"Wish I did," I answered.

"So do you want to come?" Luna inquired.

"Sure." I agreed. "Butterbeer and chestnuts, nothing's more Christmassy," I added sarcastically.

"And mistletoe," Luna added.

"What mistle-?" I began.

I didn't get to finish my question, because Luna kissed me again. Obviously, there was more mistletoe above our heads.