A/N A short little one-shot drabble thingy that appeared in my mind after spending a day with my blasted family, decorating our (fake) Christmas tree, after suffering a bout of major Writer's Block. I really should be working on my Fic Exchange piece, but alas... Also, have you ever noticed how there are no Jewish people in HP? Not really related, but you know...

Draco had never been a fan of the holiday season.

There was always this frenzy, once December rolled around. This hazy sort of atmosphere where everyone was hysterical with the need to buy gifts. And of course, make lists of what they in turn wanted to receive, which was clearly the more important part of the ordeal. And sure, Draco himself had made such lists and mailed them precariously to his parents (multiple times, just in case, you know), but that was when he was young and foolish and still believed magic had something to do with something as useless as the holidays.

And of course, there was this whole need to be with your family, which Draco never could really understand that people would enjoy doing, as a sort of gift to one another. Regardless, he went home every holiday break to the echo-y manor decorated to his mother's heart's content and ate a Christmas dinner at the long dining room table, which he had come to dislike immensely. The meal was always silent unless his father had anything he thought important to say, or if his mother had made an observation she deemed dinner table worthy. The following morning there would be a moment of content as Draco opened presents under the charmed Christmas tree, and then his family would resume its civil yet distant relationship it knew so well.

Really, why even bother with the holidays? Draco was sixteen now, and he no longer cared for gifts from his parents. Sure, he would go home over break and they would each in turn fill in their appropriate role and then he would come back to school no more full of cheer than a dead rat is of life.

And he was really quite sick of all these- these cheerful kids, walking around as though all darkness had been eliminated from the world. They smiled and laughed and enjoyed the sickly atmosphere. Some even helped decorate, hanging things like tinsel and velvet bows and charmed mistletoe from every visible crevice of the school until Draco couldn't walk to class without being bombarded by a sudden puff of fake snow, probably charmed by some incapable third year.

Honestly, he didn't know what was so wrong with being a Scrooge. It suited him quite fine, thanks for asking.

But alas, some kids thought otherwise. Namely, Draco's supposed best mate, Blaise Zabini, who had taken it upon himself to make Draco enjoy the holiday season. Which was why, of course, Draco was avoiding him by skulking along some deserted corridor, blond hair falling into his eyes as he stared at his leather shoes.

A puff of fake snow greeted his face. Squeezing his eyes shut and swiping away the flakes with his hands, he cried, "God damn it!" Somebody snorted. He opened his eyes and looked around, noticing the Weasley girl standing but a few feet from him, stifling her laughter as he glared.

"What are you laughing at, Weasley?" he growled, in no mood to see this kind of happiness whilst in his brooding mood.

"I'm just curious," she began, the laughter evident in her voice, "What did the holidays ever do to you?"

He rolled his eyes in what he assumed to be a "Why do I even bother with these people?" kind of gesture, for that was indeed what he was feeling.

"As though I need to discuss my opinions with you, Weasley. I'm surprised you're in such a good mood, despite the fact you're probably not getting anything for Christmas, considering your family hardly makes enough to feed you."

"Aren't you just Mr. Father Christmas," she commented drily, rolling her eyes in a way quite like he had moments before. "Anyways, I was just curious whether you'd be attending the Yule Ball or not."

He raised an eyebrow in surprise, before pulling up the corner of his mouth into a smirk. "Why? Are you going to ask me to go with you? Because I doubt even you are stupid enough to do that."

He was quite taken aback as she began chuckling again, merriment in her eyes. "No, you prick," she said, as though they were long-time pals. "But as prefects, we're required to attend, as well as set-up before and clean-up after."

Damn it, he thought. There go all plans of getting a nice shag in before break.

"Well then. I suppose you already have a date."

"Why? Would you have taken me up had I offered?"

"Ha. Don't be ridiculous." Almost as ridiculous as me not having a date to the stupid thing.

"Well, I don't have a date, if you're curious. Oh, fuck!" she exclaimed, glancing at her watch, "I'm supposed to meet Hermione in the library right now."

He gave her a curt nod before continuing down the hall, only to notice that she was right behind him. He raised a quizzical brow.

"I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the libary's this way," she explained wearily, hand on her hip. He had never really noticed quite how red her hair was. It certainly fit the stupid season. He turned away again and they walked through the doorway side-by-side when suddenly, the urge struck him to kiss her. As in, put his lips on hers. As in, snog her senseless.

And so he did, simply because this urge could not be avoided, for whatever reason he couldn't come up with at the moment. She didn't seem surprised at all- seemed to be even anticipating it, for she was quite willing to kiss him back and for a moment it was pure bliss; his lips on hers, her lips on his, his tongue sliding across her lips and vice versa. And although the moment of random but potent urging had long since passed, there certainly was no reason for either of them to stop, and so they didn't. He couldn't help but notice that her mouth tasted of peppermint, and wondered if it had anything to do with the candy cane sticking out of her back pocket.

Really, what had he hated about the holidays?

He couldn't remember, but didn't take much time to ponder it.

After several more blissful moments of exploring one another's mouths, they pulled apart, and his cool hand left the warmth of her neck.

She looked up and he followed her gaze. "Mistletoe," she stated needlessly. "Well," she said, sticking out her hand for a handshake, "it was nice snogging you, Malfoy. But I've got to go." And he stared at her, a little lost for words. She gave a small laugh and put her hand down before turning and walking away.

"Weasley!" he called, for reasons he wouldn't be able to tell you if you were to ask. She pivoted on the spot and looked at him expectantly. "You know, mistletoe charms only last for about five seconds."

She cracked a grin. "I'm well aware, Malfoy." Once again, she turned to leave, but appeared to change her mind. "And I guess I'll see you at the Yule Ball."

As he watched her go, Draco couldn't help but wonder what he'd ever thought was so wrong about the holidays to begin with. At least when it came to things like fake snow and mistletoe.

A/N It's kind of weird. It starts off sort of serious and then is all light and fluffy towards the end. Hmm... Well, don't forget to review!

And Happy Holidays, everybody!

xx

Ali