Hello everyone. Please don't let the sad beginning deter you from the rest of the story.

Neville could often be found in the greenhouse behind his house. Ever since his wife had left him, he practically lived there. He surrounded himself with plants notoriously difficult to care for, and so spent nearly three months constantly working there. In fact, when Neville looked out of the greenhouse one day and spotted snow falling down, he was swept with vertigo. As his butt hit the ground, the first tear slipped out. He had never been passionately in love with Hannah, but he had wanted to start a family with her. He didn't understand what had caused her so much pain she had left the house in tears. Neville had been numb, clutching the divorce papers in his hand, and just stared at the empty doorway. In his numb state he had penned a letter to McGonagall and apologized but said he couldn't teach. He had sent the letter off. And had been in this room ever since. Three months worth of pent up frustration had him crying quietly to himself.

Neville closed his eyes against the harsh world around him and lay back on a bed of soil. But as he sat there, he felt a hand rubbing his hair. His despair made it impossible for him to jump from his position, but he was able to stop his tears enough to see her face.

She was kneeling beside his head clad in a light green robe. Long black hair curled around her face and fell around him. His eyes were drawn to her lips which were a vibrant red. But his attention was then caught by her eyes as she looked at him. Her eyes were a darker green than her dress. It made him think of the top of leaves reaching for the sun. Before he knew what he was doing he had lifted his hand and placed it against her cheek. She leaned into the touch and smiled at him.

Somehow the sight of this woman didn't shock him and he watched entranced as she leaned down to kiss him. He closed his eyes in preparation but was surprised when he felt her lips press against his forehead. "Who are you?" He breathed.

She leaned back and smiled at him. "You can call me Drua."

"Drua?"

"It's short for Drualus."

Neville propped his elbows underneath himself and sat up, but he made sure he faced her the whole time. "Drualus is an unusual name."

She smiled lightly at him before pecking him on the cheek. "It's Irish for Mistletoe." Neville blinked and found the woman gone. Looking around in shock, he rubbed his eyes. Great. Being alone this whole time was causing him to have illusions. With a frustrated sigh, Neville stood and checked on the rest of the plants before emerging from the greenhouse to find out what day it was.

It took him about a week to notice the mistletoe growing from the roof of his greenhouse. It was easy to miss being intertwined with vines and other plants that grew on the frame that surrounded the inside of the building. What he couldn't understand was how it had grown in the first place.

Recalling his hallucination the week before, he stood below it and called out. "Drua?" softly. When nothing happened he let out a frustrated sigh, but as he turned to go he found her asleep on the ground. She was still wearing that robe, and her lips were just as bright. Cautiously he knelt beside her and chuckled at their reverse positions before shaking her gently.

Her eyes slowly opened and he once again found himself drowning. She smiled at him sleepily before sitting up. "Hello Neville."

Neville blinked slowly. "I don't think I told you my name."

She cocked her head to the side. "You didn't. But every plant here knows your name, even if it is hard to remember. It is rather complicated."

"Complicated?"

"To a plant yes. We rather prefer to think in images and we communicate using scents. It's rather hard to explain in this form."

Neville once again found his hand moving of it's own volition and he cradled her cheek again. "Are you a plant than?"

She chuckled softly. "Of course! I am the mistletoe that typically grows there." She pointed to a blank space in the ceiling where he could have sworn the mistletoe was before. "But we were all worried about you, so we pooled the magic you gave us, to allow me a human form for a time."

"Oh." Neville dropped his hand and stared at her blankly, still unsure how to handle this new development. Drua grabbed his hand and held it between her own.

"Can we stand?"

"What?" Neville blinked quickly before nodding and standing. "Of course!" Neville looked at Drua who only sat there looking somewhat hopeless. "Are you alright?"

She looked up at him and he gulped. "I've never stood before. I don't know how to do it."

"Oh!" Neville bent over and helped her stand. She was truly wobbly and leaned heavily against his chest, and somehow he couldn't mind it all that much. She clutched his shoulders and laughed light heartedly.

"This is so much harder than you make it seem."

"You'll get used to it." She opened her mouth to say something but her knees gave out and Neville, unprepared, fell down with her. Neville somehow managed to rotate them so he ended up falling on his back with her on top of him.

She sat up quickly and began to rub her hands along his arms and face. "Are you ok? Please say you are ok."

Neville shook the daze from his mind and smiled at her. "I'm fine."

"Oh thank goodness. I don't know what I would have done if you had withered!"

Neville smiled again and was about to correct her terminology when he realized that she was kneeling on top of him. Neville swallowed deeply and said the first thing that came to his mind. "I'm under Mistletoe." Drua blinked rapidly at him, a confused look in her eye. "Drua do you know what humans do when they are under mistletoe?" She shook her head. "Let me show you." Neville could scarcely believe his own bravery as he pulled her lips to his own.

Her lips were still and had to be coaxed. It was very obviously a first kiss for her, and she held stiffly in his arms. He let her go and closed his eyes, wondering what the hell he had just done. When he opened them again he found her almost in the exact same position, except her fingers pressed against her lips. "What was that?"

"We humans call it a kiss."

"Is it always so..." Neville held his breath waiting. "... it is like a fresh rain." Neville lost his breath at her description. She looked innocently down at him and he prayed she wouldn't sit back and feel what kissing her had done to him. She leaned closer. "Can we do it again?"

Neville couldn't resist. His hand shot forward to twist in her hair and pull her into a deep kiss. This time was better. She mimicked everything he did and Neville was beginning to figure out how to explain the next step with she broke the kiss. She smiled at him softly. "I have to go in a moment."

Neville felt his stomach drop. "Do you have to?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, the magic is running out. Even if I wanted too, I can't stay." She rolled off of him and sat up. He slowly sat up next to her. "You should also know that I can only return one more time."

"What?"

"I can't do it more than three times. I don't have the power. I knew this."

"Than why would you come at all?"

She looked over at him with a confused frown. "To comfort you. I do not know what upsets you, I don't understand all of the emotions of a human. But perhaps I should not have... kissed you."

Neville shook his head. "No. I'm sorry. I'm just so... frustrated I guess."

"Neville, the plants and I saw how effective the first visit was. You left the greenhouse. We love the amount of care you give us, but we saw it wearing on you. We hoped that this would help as well."

Neville wanted to tell her it wouldn't, that it only served to confuse him even more. But as he looked at her eyes, he knew she wouldn't understand. Maybe kissing her had been a bad idea.

"Neville." She whispered. He looked up and saw her smiling at him. "I hope you find someone you can kiss forever." He blinked and she was gone. Neville only waited a moment before going to the main house. He immediately grabbed a glass of rum. But as he brought it to his lips he felt his frustration flow up so he threw it at the wall. Neville rubbed the frustration from his forehead before grabbing his cloak and going to find one of his friends to talk to.

As time passed Neville spent less time in his greenhouse and more with his friends. But everytime he would enter the greenhouse, he would look up and greet the mistletoe there. He never said her name, saving the last visit for... something. As the months passed he was surprised to see the mistletoe not acting like the parasitic plant it normally was. It never withered, and it never grew larger. He knew she was waiting. But he didn't know what for.

Two whole years had passed before he came rushing into the greenhouse. "Drua!" He blinked and she was standing before him just the same as she had before. He grabbed her waist and twirled in a circle. "She said yes!"

When he set Drua down she laughed lightly and tilted her head to the side. "This is the Luna person you have been talking about lately yes?" Neville blushed and nodded. After finding out that his plants understood him, he had told them more and more about his life.

"I am so happy for you." She kissed him lightly on the lips. Seconds later Neville turned in shock to find Luna standing in the doorway.

"Luna it's not what..." He shut up when she lifted her hand. Luna's face showed no emotion and she came forward until she stood before them. Neville was shocked when Drua leaned forward and pecked Luna's lips.

Drua smiled at them both before she turned to Neville. "I hope to see you kiss her at least once." But then she was gone. Neville turned to Luna to see her touching her lips.

"She stole a kiss." Neville nodded, frozen, waiting. Luna then looked up and spotted the Mistletoe. Her eyes lit up and she looked at Neville. "You saw her too right! The nargle!" Neville opened his mouth to argue but turned his eyes to the mistletoe instead. Drua's last words echoed through his mind and he pulled Luna toward him.

"Luna."

"Yes Neville." She smiled up at him coyly.

"We're standing under Mistletoe." He leaned forward to capture Luna in a kiss. Luna laughed around his lips before kissing him back enthusiastically. When the finally pulled back, both sets of eyes turned to the roof and found the Mistletoe gone.

This was a submission for The Kisses Competition - Mistletoe Kiss

Please leave a review letting me know what you think.