A/N: This is a scene from chapter 27 of We Stand Together, in third person Hermione's POV instead of first person Percy's.
If you haven't read We Stand Together or are too lazy to start it now, the only information you really need to know is that Percy and Annabeth are at Hogwarts, it's Christmas, and there's mistletoe everywhere. Malfoy is on good terms with Annabeth and Percy, and therefore isn't so mean to the Golden Trio anymore. Oh, and also, Hermione Granger might just have a small fancy for a certain Malfoy. Enjoy this one-shot!
A Sprig of White Berries
She'd been an outright idiot to bring her books to the Christmas Eve feast in the Great Hall. Granted, she usually brought her bookbag to dinner every night, but looking back on it, bringing it on December 24th wasn't the best idea.
Then again, perhaps it was. It all really depended on a person's point of view — and with her point of view, it was both the best and worst scenario ever.
She'd been perusing through Elemental Magi of the Twentieth Century all day; she had ordered an extra copy from Flourish and Blotts for Christmas tomorrow, knowing that Percy would absolutely love her gift for him. So she took the book to dinner, along with Hogwarts: A History and The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, and read through chapter thirty-five, careful to hide the book's cover from Percy.
Alright, so she hadn't been reading all dinner long; she had talked with Harry and Ron about the usual nothing; the D.A's progress, how much Harry fancied Cho Chang (though he avidly denied this fact for weeks on end), and how classes would resume after the break. She'd spent most of the time, though, talking with Annabeth, who was eager for Christmas like a puppy was for a bone. And understandably, too; Hermione had seen for how long she'd been preparing Percy's present. It was a beautiful woven tapestry that was enchanted to move and play out little scenes, and the tapestry itself depicted Annabeth's one home: Camp Half-Blood. Though she'd never been to the camp, she knew how important it was to the two demigods.
So there — Hermione had made social conversation throughout dinner. However, through the idle chat of the evening, she'd not noticed the time and how the Christmas crackers were all being eaten up, or how the food slowly disappeared from the table entirely. So, she hadn't put away her books by the time Dumbledore wished everyone a happy Christmas and sent them all off to bed.
"I'll stay here and pack up. Don't worry, go on. I'll catch up to you," she'd said to Percy, Annabeth, Harry and Ron when they stood up to leave and noticed her mess of textbooks. They'd left, walking back up to Gryffindor Tower.
And so, when Hermione had finished grabbing all of my books, she set off after them. And then, it was when she was halfway down the corridor to the staircase that Draco Malfoy had decided to round the opposite corner and crash into her.
"Granger…" he muttered, standing up and brushing himself off before trying to walk off. However, as he did, an irreversible Sticking Charm caught his feet and kept him rooted to the spot. Hermione stood up as well, but the same Sticking Charm that had caught Malfoy rooted her as well when she tried to walk away. The two of them, already knowing and dreading what was going on, looked up as a sprig of black leaves topped with luminous white berries (the berries actually glowed) sprouted out of a crack in the stone ceiling.
Of course. Of course the mistletoe had to pair her with Malfoy. Then again, she thought… she did have a very slight fancy for him… not that she would ever reveal that to the Slytherin standing in front of her.
"Well? Are you going to kiss me, Granger?" Malfoy asked, smirking broadly although he was also definitely hiding his own disgust.
In response, the bushy-haired girl crossed her arms defiantly and looked absolutely anywhere but the Slytherin in front of him. She could feel her face growing a hot red, and when she peeked up at Malfoy, could tell that he was doing the exact same as her, a tinge of pink coating his usually-ghost-pale face.
The two of them stayed, standing there immobilized, for a good three minutes, defiantly making zero eye contact, when the sound of footsteps pounding down the hall reached their ears. Not soon after, Percy Jackson rounded the corner. He covered his mouth to hide his glee at catching Hermione and Malfoy in such a vulnerable position, but couldn't prevent a snort from escaping.
At the sound, both Hermione and Draco looked over at him, faces blushing violently. Percy leaned against the wall casually, and put his hand on his chin as if mildly interested. She couldn't believe him.
Apparently, neither could Malfoy. "Oh, sod off, Jackson," he said coldly, turning away from Percy and crossing his arms.
Hermione spoke up, extremely embarrassed and wanting to get out of the awkward situation. "Percy! Ummm… uh, do — do you think you could — erm, help us?" she managed, though her voice was an embarrassing squeak.
Percy's eyes widened in sarcasm. "Are you kidding? This is too good to be true! Besides, I can't destroy the mistletoe if anything you've tried hasn't worked. It looks like there's only one way you two can get out of there…" He winked, and Hermione's blush increased tenfold. If only Percy would go away; she didn't want him there to watch her kiss Malfoy.
Malfoy, yet again, was thinking on the same track as her. "Could you leave?" he asked intolerantly, shooting an icy glare at Percy. The son of Poseidon shrugged before pushing his hands into his pockets and tiptoeing back around the corner. Hermione had the nagging feeling that he was waiting back there, but she wasn't waiting any longer to get rid of the mistletoe.
Suddenly, Malfoy's face was too close to hers and then his lips were on hers. Hermione shrieked in surprise, then tried to move Malfoy off of her. She tried to protest, pushing at his robes, and then said his name against his lips to get him off. Instead, a strange "Marrrffoyyy" escaped her mouth. Draco pulled away and then whispered, "Muffliato".
He leaned back down to Hermione and cupped her chin gently, face disgusted and also beyond happy, almost dreamy, but she didn't wait for him to close the gap. Instead, she grabbed his tie and pulled his lips down to meet hers rather ferociously. His lips were warm and soft, not at all like the cold stone she'd expected, and molded perfectly into hers. Before she knew what was happening, her instincts had taken over and she folded her arms gently around his neck but not grabbing his hair.
His arms were around her waist all of the sudden, and the kiss was gentle and sweet and everything she'd dreamed it would be. Soon, Hermione heard the soft 'pop' as the cursed black mistletoe with its white berries receded into the ceiling, but she didn't want to pull away just yet.
Later on, they could think about being friends, or even more than friends, and they could ponder endlessly on the fact that they were Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy and they were kissing.
But all that mattered at the moment was the feeling of his gentle lips on hers, and her arms over his shoulders and his around her waist. And that this, in fact, was the best kiss that had ever happened on Christmas Eve, all because two very different, unsuspecting fifth-years were caught under a deadly sprig of white berries.