Under the Mistletoe
A/N: This fic was written for the Diagon Alley II Secret Santa Gift Exchange 2016, for MarvelGeek42. Unfortunately, this fic was a last minute replacement as the original Secret Santa wasn't able to write, so I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to have this beta'd or make it as special as the occasion it is for. Nevertheless, I hope you like it, and if it gives anyone even a little bit of enjoyment over these holidays, then I'll be happy :) Word count: 2134 words
Not for the first time that evening, Colin sighed. He should have been at home, making gingerbread with his brother and helping his father prepare the Christmas dinner. He should have been at home wrapping gifts that arrived last-minute in the post, not standing in the Great Hall by himself at a Christmas party.
"What's wrong, mate?" a voice asked.
Taking a deep breath, Colin tore his eyes away from the brunette dancing around the room and focused them on the boy standing next to him. Fabian was holding a goblet of pumpkin juice, but by the way he swirled it around, he was probably pretending it was Firewhiskey or something again. Fabian often had a tendency to pretend he was older than he really was, more or less in the hope of gaining a girlfriend. His cheeks were flushed, highlighted by the grin on his face. Well, at least he was having a good time.
"Nothing," Colin said.
He found his eyes, once again, wandering back to the girl. She had stopped dancing and was now laughing with a few of the other witches standing around her. The red dress robes she wore glittered under the fairy-lights strung around the hall, making her look all the more enchanting.
"Ohhh, still fancying Mildred, eh?" Fabian asked, nudging him in the ribs.
Colin slapped Fabian's hand away and took a step back. Fabian's drink sloshed over the rim of his goblet, leaving large, orange splotches all over the polished marble floor. If his friend wasn't careful, he'd soon attract the unwanted attention of Filch, who hadn't been happy in the first place that the left-over students were having a party.
Oblivious to it all, Fabian nudged him again. "Looks like Mildred's standing under the mistletoe. Go on, now's your chance, big boy."
Colin swung his head back to Mildred who, sure enough, was standing directly under one of the sprigs of mistletoe dangling from the ceiling. She mustn't have seen it—or simply didn't care—for she continued to laugh with her friends. His stomach twisted at the thought and his face dropped.
"Go on, what are you waiting for?" Fabian said, raising his voice.
"I—no, I don't think so."
"Aww, wuss!" Fabian said.
Half of Fabian's drink was now on the floor. A group of Hufflepuff girls walked past, causing Fabian to act as drunkenly as possible.
Colin rolled his eyes and walked a few metres away, where he couldn't possibly be associated with such a fool. Honestly, did Fabian not know he looked ridiculous? That being "drunk" wasn't actually that cool?
His eyes wandered back to Mildred, still under the mistletoe. Clutching his stomach, which now felt like someone was stabbing it, he shook his head. No, perhaps Fabian was the one who knew what girls liked. Perhaps Colin was wrong about everything, like he had been the previous day. He was wrong to have ever liked Mildred, and he was wrong to have stayed behind for Christmas.
32 hours before…
This was it; this was his big chance.
Colin's legs bounced up and down, his feet tapping the carpet, as he waited for the Gryffindor common room to empty. Most of the students stood or sat around the cosy room in small groups, hugging each other goodbye and swapping presents. Trunks spilling over with robes and holiday homework were piled by the door, owls shrieking from their cages. Soon, many of them would be off on the Hogwarts Express, headed home for Christmas.
Mildred, however, wouldn't be.
Colin smiled over at the pretty brunette sitting by the fire. Dangling from the rafters above her was a sprig of mistletoe, hung by one of the older years in the hopes of getting a snog. He had been friends with her for three years now but had only just realised that perhaps they could be more.
Yesterday, in the last class before break, she had giggled when he had leant her his notes, blushing furiously as their hands brushed each other. From what Fabian had told him, it was most definitely a sign that she liked him.
Now, Colin just had to wait until her friends left and he could surprise her.
"Are you sure you don't want to come home, Colin?" Dennis asked, having finally managed to drag his trunk to the pile.
Colin shook his head, tearing his gaze away from Mildred.
"I'm going to miss you both, but you and Dad will have a good old time together. Plus, I'll see him before he knows it," he said with a smile.
Dennis returned the smile, although it didn't quite reach his eyes. Colin knew Christmas wouldn't be the same without the three of them together—it had been hard enough adjusting to the holidays when their mother had passed away—and felt a little guilty that he wasn't going to be there. He would miss his father's attempts to make mince pies, as well as decorating the tree that would inevitably fall over when their cat tried to climb it. Still, he didn't want to miss the Christmas party the students staying behind had planned, or the chance to finally ask Mildred out.
Fidgeting in his seat, Colin felt around for the presents he had bought downstairs with him. Holding out the two, neatly wrapped parcels, he winked at Dennis. "You can open yours tomorrow night if you'd like," he said.
Dennis' smiled widened and he accepted the presents. "Thanks!"
Colin leant forward and gave him a hug before shooing him off. "Well, it looks like everyone else is heading off to the coaches. You'd better get going. Merry Christmas!"
"Happy Christmas, Colin!" Dennis replied, running off to join the horde of students pouring through the portrait hole.
As soon as he was gone, Colin flicked his gaze back to Mildred. Her friends were still in the room, but they had moved off to some of the now vacated armchairs. She had just taken out a book, and if there was ever a time to act, it would be now before she became too-far invested in it.
Gulping, Colin slowly untangled his legs and stood up. His legs were shaking, and as he made his way over to Mildred, he found he had to wipe his palms on his trousers a few times.
"H-hi, Millie," he said when he reached her.
Mildred's lips were moving as she read her book. It was a few moments before she paused and looked up, a small smile gracing her rosy lips. "Oh, hi Colin."
It was now or never. Colin's heart raced, his hands growing sweatier. Before he lost his nerve, he leant forward and crushed his lips against hers, praying that the kissing advice Fabian had given him was correct. Her lips seemed to move with his and her hands gripped his shoulders, so he supposed he was doing alright.
"Ew! Ugh, Colin, what are you doing?" Mildred shrieked, pushing him back.
Colin broke this kiss, pulling back enough so he could stare into Mildred's face. She was wiping her sleeve across her mouth and her eyes were narrowed.
What was wrong? Had he not kissed her alright after all? Maybe he should have gone for a quick peck on the lips instead?
Pointing to the mistletoe above her head, Colin said, "The mistletoe…"
Mildred looked up, her cheeks turning red. Then, looking back to him, she stood up. "Ew."
Colin took a step back as she pushed past him, marching over to her friends. He watched her talking to them, gesturing wildly with her hands to him and her lips. The girls broke into a fit of giggles, and when Mildred glanced at him again, he could see her lips were twisted into a smirk.
He had never known until then what it felt to have his heart broken. He hadn't known that it really was as bad as people said, if not worse. That it would feel like someone was punching him in the chest over and over again, or that his eyes would immediately well up with hot, salty tears. That he would want to run up to his dormitory and pack his belongings and try to catch the Hogwarts Express home, even when he knew it would have already departed.
Colin took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to rid memories of his faux pas. He had been stupid to believe that Mildred would actually like him back, or that kissing her was a good Christmas gift. Fabian had assured him it would be; his friend just hadn't realised that Colin was a terrible kisser.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Opening his eyes, Colin looked around the Great Hall. People had started to pair off together when the beginning notes of a Celestina Warbeck's Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love echoed around the room. Mildred had pranced over to Michael Corner, eyes dancing with joy. It was another stab to the chest, reminding Colin that he would not be joining in such activities.
He definitely should have gone home. Maybe if he had, he would have been able to avoid this embarrassment.
"I don't think they're having as great a time as they're making out to," a soft voice said.
Colin cringed, sure that it was Fabian again, his drunk act turning into the need for him to mimic voices. When he turned to tell him to go away, he was surprised to see Luna Lovegood standing there, blue eyes staring out into the crowd.
"Oh, hi Luna," he said. "Ah yes, well, um, I don't mind. They can dance away if they'd like."
"So you're not upset that you're not out there with them?"
"Uh, no. No, of course not," Colin said.
Luna was now watching him closely, eyebrows raised. "Oh, alright."
Colin shifted on the spot, not liking the way she was looking at him. Had she heard what had happened? Of course she had. Colin knew that Luna was a bit aloof sometimes, but she wasn't so oblivious to the gossip circulating the school. Mildred or one of her friends had surely spread the word about the kiss by now, probably to warn the other fourth-year girls that the disgusting Colin Creevey was on a kissing rampage.
No, that was being ungenerous of Mildred, even if she had rejected him.
Luna was still watching him, her head tilted. "Is it because you can't dance? I saw you practicing last year for the Yule Ball, even if no one really wanted third years to attend, but you were quite good."
Colin's cheeks grew hot and he looked down at his feet. He remembered helping Neville Longbottom practice for the ball last year, using all his father had taught him about ballroom dancing. It had actually been quite fun, and when he had introduced him to Ginny Weasley and Neville had asked her to escort him to it, it had been all the more wonderful. Embarrassing that someone else knew about the lessons, but still wonderful.
"Erm, thanks," he said.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Luna shrug. The song had changed to another slow-paced number and as the minutes passed on, Luna started to hum along with it.
"Well, I suppose I should head off to bed now," Colin said, still staring at his feet.
Luna continued to hum, but when Colin took a step forward, she stopped. Colin felt a tug on his arm, but before he knew what was happening, she had pushed herself onto her toes and pecked a kiss on his cheek.
Reaching his hand to the spot, he turned to her. "Why-why'd you do that?" he stammered.
"We're standing under the mistletoe," Luna said, pointing above them.
Twisting his neck back, Colin looked up to see that she was right. Above them was a sprig of mistletoe. The white berries on it seemed to increase in number as he looked at them, a bright red ribbon tying the leaves together.
"But that wasn't there before," he said, rubbing his eyes. He had purposely made sure to avoid standing near any mistletoe all day. How had he not noticed some above him until now?
Turning back to Luna, he found his lips twitching. She was focused back on the dance floor, her hands behind her back, once more humming to the song playing.
"Well, I'm going to dance. You can join me if you'd like," she said. Not waiting for a reply, she skipped out into the centre of the Great Hall, putting something into the pocket of her dress robes.
Colin raised his hand to his cheek again, allowing the smile to break out. It no longer felt like someone was stabbing him, the pain somehow going away as he watched Luna twirl around, her silver-blonde hair flowing down her back.
Perhaps he was right; staying at Hogwarts over Christmas was a good idea, after all.