AN: Not my characters, but you already know that, don't you? Written for the Rivals in Love Christmas challenge.
"I hate you."
"Tell me something I don't know, Malfoy."
It was, as always, the fault of the Weasley twins. Any excuse for a prank was good enough, as far as they were concerned, but this Christmas they'd just gone one step too far. The entire castle had been turned into what was, effectively, their playground. If you weren't constantly on your guard, you were guaranteed to be caught in one of their many, and varied, traps, but sometimes even "Constant Vigilance!" (as Mad-eye Moody had liked to say) wasn't sufficient to protect you. The charm that the latest two unwitting victims had been captured by was only revealed once they'd both entered its range. Then, the invisibility charm cast over the cursed mistletoe (not literally cursed, merely charmed, but you try seeing it that way when you're the one caught by it) had lifted.
"Of all the people, in all of Hogwarts, Granger, why for Merlin's sake did I have to get stuck under here with you?"
"You think I'm thrilled by it? I'd sooner kiss a ferret... oh, wait, you'd know all about being a ferret, wouldn't you, Malfoy? Perhaps I should have said I'd sooner kiss a toad, or the Whomping Willow, or even a Blast-ended Skrewt."
"Now that's taking it a little far, don't you think? You can hardly compare this to a Skrewt, Granger." It was a sign of exactly how serious their situation was that the infamous, and ever-present, Malfoy smirk had completely disappeared.
"I believe I just did, or weren't you listening?"
Hermione had turned her back on him, and was looking round the hallway, trying to spot anyone that might be able to help them. It was just typical that she and Draco Malfoy would be the only two people in the entire entrance hall. Even the usual crowd of first-years was missing from round the hourglasses, since it was coming up to Christmas and they were all busy getting excited in their house common rooms. If they'd got stuck here just one hour ago, Filch would have still been decorating the ridiculously oversized Christmas tree by the main doors, but he'd finished and gone off to pester students in the corridors. Not that he'd have been much help, but he might have been able to fetch Professor Flitwick, or maybe Professor McGonagall. However, knowing the Weasley twins like she did, there was probably no way of breaking the spell except by doing whatever the magical mistletoe wanted them to do. Speaking of the mistletoe, it was hovering closer and closer to their heads, pulling them towards each other. She tried to resist, as was Malfoy, but there seemed to be nothing they could do about it. They were inching closer together, against their will.
"What are we going to do about this, Granger?"
"You expect me to have an answer, Malfoy? I didn't create the stupid charm!"
They sat, back to back, on the floor. They couldn't move any further apart, but neither could they see each other. It was, although nowhere near ideal, the best they could come up with for the moment.
For several hours, they sat there, studiously ignoring both each other and the clump of mistletoe that was now floating round their heads. Both had reached the conclusion, after trying numerous spells, that the charm could not be broken by anything other than the intended means. And that, much to their disgust, was clearly the traditional act of kissing under the mistletoe. It would have to be done, or they'd be stuck in the middle of Hogwarts entrance hall for ever (or until the Weasley twins saw fit to take pity on them, which Hermione knew from bitter experience would be never).
Neither of them was prepared to state the obvious, and be the first to show weakness. It was dinner time, and students were flocking round them to get to the Great Hall. None of them seemed affected by the charm, probably because it had already selected two victims. There was some interest from the Gryffindors and Slytherins, since it was commonly known that these two were enemies and had been since they'd started at the school, as a result of bloodlines, and a more personal hatred of each other.
"Ooh, look, George, it's Hermione."
"Under the mistletoe with a Malfoy, indeed. Whatever are we going to do with you, Hermione, can't have you falling for a Slytherin, can we?"
Hermione stood up, brandishing her wand at the redheaded pair, and instantly fell over, pulled back towards Malfoy by the charm. Even as she landed in his lap, she was shouting at the twins to undo the charm and let them both go.
"Can't do that, I'm afraid. Only way out is to kiss him. I know that's a horrible idea, but it can't be helped. Good luck!"
"Try closing your eyes."
They disappeared into the Great Hall, sniggering at Hermione's misfortune. "I'm going to use Ginny's Bat Bogey Hex on them, then throw them into the Willow, and feed them to Grawp, or... no, feed them to the giant spiders in the Forbidden Forest, then I'm going to kill them and dance on their graves."
"Never knew you had such a vindictive streak in you, Granger. Mind if I help you do that? I'm sure I could come up with a few hexes of my own to try on them."
"Be my guest, Malfoy. They deserve everything that's coming to them."
"Hate to state the obvious, here, but first we have to get out of here." He didn't sound angry any more, simply resigned to the fact that he was going to have to kiss Hermione Granger, the mudblood who had far too much magical talent for his liking.
"Suppose we'd better get it over with, then we can hex the pair of them for doing this."
"House unity and co-operation - bet the staff never thought this would be a way of encouraging it."
"How about we don't give them any ideas?"
"You said it, Granger."
Since Hermione was still perched on his lap, unable to move, Draco leaned down, and touched his lips to hers, briefly. Or at least, it was intended to be brief. The charm revealed that it had a second part - as soon as the trapped pair began to kiss, they had to do it properly - it couldn't just be a quick brushing of lips. Actually, Hermione decided, this wasn't so bad. She'd certainly had worse kisses than this one from Draco Malfoy, a boy who supposedly hated her.
Hermione Granger definitely knew how to kiss, were the words going through Draco's mind. They shouldn't be doing it, and wouldn't be if it weren't for a charm, but he wouldn't mind doing this again, maybe... Not that he'd ever tell anyone. His life wouldn't be worth living if he did.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Inside the Great Hall, Fred and George Weasley were sniggering together as they watched through the open doors. Unbeknownst to Draco and Hermione, there was a camera set up in the entrance hall, pointed directly at them. At regular intervals over the last few hours, it had been taking pictures automatically. The best ones would be going into the photo album from their Hogwarts years, enabling them to embarrass the brunette witch with the pictures forever.
AN: Read and review this Christmas-themed fic, please!