Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

"I can't wait for Christmas," Alice Marshall said excitedly, her dark blue eyes glowing with pleasure. "Frank's been teasing me about my present for ages; it'll be nice to finally know what it is he's getting me."

Alice's best friend, Marlene McKinnon, sighed. "You're so lucky you've got Frank," she told Alice. "I wish I had a boyfriend to get me presents."

"You would," the third member of their group, Lily Evans, informed her, "If you weren't so picky."

"I'm not picky!" Marlene protested. "It's not my fault none of the boys here meet my standards."

Lily smiled. "Your standards are impossible to meet."

"They are not!"

"They are," Alice said, fixing her shoulder-length black hair in the bathroom mirror. They had a short break between classes, and were spending it in the bathroom so Marlene and Alice could fix themselves up. Lily, who always wore her long red hair down, in the same way, and didn't wear much makeup, found these trips to be rather boring. She leaned against the sink and watched her friends reapply their makeup. Secretly, she had to agree with Marlene – Alice was lucky to have Frank. Lily hadn't had a boyfriend since they're fourth year, and was a little jealous of what Alice had.

The school bell sounded in the distance, and Lily grabbed her bag. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

The three of them walked down the hall to their last morning class, Charms, which was Lily's favorite. It was her best subject, Potions at a close second. It had been in Charms that she had mastered her first spell when she was eleven. The only thing she disliked about it was that Flitwick had seated her right beside James Potter, and directly in front of Sirius Black. Sometimes Lily wondered about the wisdom of her teachers.

When Lily, Alice, and Marlene entered the classroom, James and his friends, who called themselves the Marauders, were already there. Lily took her seat beside James as the ball rang, signaling the start of class. James shot her a smile and said, "Hey, Evans."

"Potter."

"What's with the face?"

"You're annoying me," Lily said, turning her head in an attempt to ignore him. James Potter was not one for hints, however.

"All I did was say hi," he said. "You don't really give me a fair chance, do you?"

"You don't deserve one," Lily snapped. Her face was beginning to turn red like her hair, and her emerald-colored eyes glinted with anger. Why did James Potter have to spend all his time bothering her? There were plenty of girls who would adore having his attention, whereas Lily found it to be a burden.

"Why don't I deserve a chance, exactly?" he asked.

"Because you're annoying."

"So we circle back to the beginning," James said with a grin. No amount of insults from Lily could wipe it from his face – he was under the impression that everyone loved him.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Evans. Would you please be so kind as to pay attention?" Professor Flitwick asked dryly.

"Sorry, Professor," Lily said meekly. In a furious whisper, she told off James. "You always get me in trouble."

"You wouldn't get in trouble if you just ignored me," James said cheekily, giving her an annoyingly innocent smile. It made Lily want to scream. Instead, she slowly and silently counted to ten before attempting to focus on what Professor Flitwick was saying about a permanent sticking charm.

"This charm is particularly useful for the caster, because they are the only ones who can get the counter-spell to work. If anyone else tried, the object would remain stuck," Flitwick explained. Lily picked up her quill to take notes.

Later that evening, Lily was fulfilling her prefect duties by patrolling the corridors. Not for the first time since Charms, her thoughts had strayed to James Potter, and his irritating crush on her. Why did she, of all people, get the misfortune of being the girl that James decided to pursue above all others?

Lily was so lost in thought that she walked right into the very thing she had learned to avoid since her third year: enchanted mistletoe. The worst part wasn't that her feet got glued to the ground so that she couldn't move, or that she would be forced to stay there until someone came along and kissed her, the only way to free someone from the enchanted mistletoe. The worst part was the person who came around the corner just after she got stuck was James Potter.

Luckily he was alone. Neither Sirius nor Remus were with him, for which Lily was grateful. He came to a halt when he saw Lily stuck under the mistletoe and laughed. "Having trouble?" he asked, amused.

"Shut up," Lily growled, her hands balling into fists. Her face began to warm up, and she knew she was blushing.

"Would you like some help?"

"Not from you," Lily answered, crossing her arms. "I'd rather stand here all night."

"Really? In the cold and dark, with no one to save you from the mistletoe? You want to be stuck here in the morning so everyone can see you and laugh about the fact that you forgot to watch where you were going?" James still looked highly amused, his hazel eyes twinkling behind his glasses.

No, Lily thought, but I don't want to kiss you, either. James took a few steps forward and said, "If you want me to help you out, just say the word."

"No thanks," Lily said, trying to sound confident, but James' words had gotten to her. She didn't want everyone to see her stuck there with no way to get herself out.

"Alright," James said casually. "If you're sure. I'll be going, then." He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked down the hallway, whistling. He had barely turned the corner when Lily's resolve broke.

"Wait!" she called.

"Yes?" James asked, sticking his head back around. Lily could tell that he was trying hard not to smile, but she ignored this and took a deep breath. She could hardly believe what she was about to do.

"I need help," Lily said in a small voice, hating herself for admitting it.

"What do you want me to do about it?" James came back around the corner, and stopped three feet in front of her. He allowed himself a small smile, and his mouth twitched like he was trying not to laugh.

"I hate you," Lily said angrily. "Just help me get out."

"How can I help you if I don't know how you want me to help you?" He waited a second, then said, "What do you want me to do?"

Lily hugged her arms tighter to her chest, then threw her hands up in exasperation and let out a curse that made surprise flit across James' face. "Just kiss me, dummy."

James didn't need to be told twice. He crossed over to her in a single stride, then paused. Instead of grabbing her roughly, like she had expected, James laid his hands carefully on her wait and pressed his lips gently against hers, increasing the pressure as the seconds ticked past. Surprise coursed through Lily and she responded by placing her hands on his shoulders. She had been kissed only a few times before, but none of them felt like this kiss. It was different in a way she couldn't describe, and unbearably good. James Potter was a good kisser, and Lily couldn't even enjoy it because she was supposed to hate him.

Sensing that the kiss was about to end, Lily decided to make the most of it and go back to hating him when it was over. She moved her hands from his shoulder and put her arms around his neck instead, one hand catching his hair, which turned out to be softer than she expected. She pressed herself closer to him, and she could feel his astonishment, but he reacted so quickly that Lily wondering if he had been hoping for this outcome.

Somehow, they ended up on the floor, signaling that Lily had been freed from the spell binding her to the mistletoe. Finally, breathless, Lily pulled away from James, and they lay on the ground, panting. When he was able to speak, James said, "You seemed to be enjoying yourself just now." Lily could hear the smirk in his voice.

"And you weren't?" Lily retorted.

"I never said I wasn't," James said, rolling over and propping himself up on his elbow. "I enjoy anything that involves you." Lily flushed, but it was nothing compared to how red she turned when he added, "You're a good kisser, by the way." He gave her another one of his annoying smiles, although this time it was annoying for a completely different reason. Instead of being annoyed with James, she was annoyed with herself for the way her stomach twisted at his compliment. She did not like James.

"You're not too bad yourself," she said shortly, getting up and brushing the dust from her robes. She tried to hide her blush as she said, "If you tell anyone about this, I'll make sure you're in the hospital for a week."

"My lips are sealed," James said, smiling still.

. . .

For the next few days, all Lily could think about was her kiss with James – which she hadn't told anyone about, especially Alice and Marlene, who would have had a field day. The kiss had left her so breathless and bewildered; she didn't know what to think. She couldn't even describe it to herself, let alone someone else. She also had a lot of conflicting emotions about it. On the one hand, she hated James, and therefore the kiss was nothing. On the other hand, it had highly improved her opinion of him, and she couldn't deny that she liked it.

The other problem was that Lily wanted to kiss him again. There were several flaws there, in that she was having enough trouble admitting to herself that she was now physically attracted to James. It would be worse having to tell him that she wanted to kiss him, with her stubborn pride at work. The worst bit of all, though, would be having to explain to everyone why she was kissing James if anyone happened to see them.

Unable to get James and the kiss out of her head, Lily decided that she needed to try again before she could make up her mind about James. At the end of their Potions class a few days before the winter vacation, Lily tapped him on the shoulder while the rest of the class was packing up. He raised his eyebrows in wonder when he saw that it was her, and she leaned over to whisper in his ear, "I need to talk to you later."

"Alright," James said. "Where?" Lily shrugged, so he grinned and added quietly, "How about under the mistletoe?"

Lily glared at him, and felt embarrassed that James seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. How could he, though? She hadn't been acting any different lately. "Fine," she said, before turning on her heel and going to pack up her things.

Several hours later, Lily was leaning against the wall in the hall where she had gotten stuck under the mistletoe, waiting for James. The mistletoe that had trapped her before had disappeared, as it often did after a few days. She didn't have to wait long for James to show up. For a brief period, they watched each other as Lily contemplated what to say. Before she had gathered the words, James spoke, "You're confused."

Lily examined his face, and instead of answering, she said, "How do you do that? It's like you can read my mind or something."

James laughed and shook his head. "Just your face. My uncle's cousin is a squib, and he became a psychiatrist. I picked up a few things from listening to him read my mind whenever we have any kind of family get-together. I don't know why they invite him, he's really annoying."

Lily laughed too, and then clamped her mouth shut. "You shouldn't have kissed me."

"I should have left you there?"

"No! But... You're right, I am confused. I'm not supposed to like you, but since you kissed me, I can't stop thinking about it," Lily said.

"I have been known to have that effect," James said with an exaggerated wink to let her know that he was simply joking. He became serious again, and said, "Stop thinking about how much you hated me before and tell me what you feel right now."

Lily paused for a moment to think this over, and she closed her eyes. "I feel like I want to kiss you."

"Is that all?"

She shook her head. "But the rest of my thoughts are private." She opened her eyes again and smiled at him. "It's weird how the littlest thing turned everything around and upside down. Last week I hated you, and now I'm having trouble focusing on anything but wanting to kiss you." As soon as she finished talking, James grabbed her arm, pulled her towards him, and kissed her. This was rougher than before, but no less pleasant. Without even thinking, Lily slid her hands under his shirt and felt the smooth skin of his Quidditch-hardened chest.

When they pulled apart, Lily let out a cross between a laugh and a sigh. "Well." She didn't have to elaborate, because James understood what she meant.

"Glad you met me?" James asked mischievously, reaching out to give her hair a gentle tug.

"Maybe," Lily said, smiling as she grabbed his hand and pulled him off to find another patch of mistletoe.

A/N: I have posted this particular one-shot before, but I took it down a couple of years ago. I decided I like it enough to put it (and a few other one-shots, along with some new ones) up again this year. Please drop me a review and let me know what you think!