Christmas the Hogwarts Way

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NO PART

Hermione wandered the halls, rubbing her arms in an attempt to keep warm. Patrolling the corridors in the middle of winter was one of the downfalls of teaching at Hogwarts, especially when assigned the dungeons. Silently, she cursed Severus for taking the day off.

She had just climbed the stairs leading to the foyer when another body crashed into her.

"Professor Snape!" Hermione cried in surprise, hastily backing up. Though she only went a few paces when an invisible force stopped her.

A horrible feeling hit her stomach, and when she looked up, her hunch proved to be correct.

Mistletoe!

"Are you going to kiss me?" Hermione asked while cocking her head in curiosity.

Severus glanced once at the mistletoe above their heads before looking at her again. Dryly he replied, "I doubt it."

"You're really going to stand here all night?" her eyebrow raised and she looked to her watch; it was only ten.

Severus scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's only two hours. I think I'll live. That is, if you're insufferable presence doesn't kill me." He sneered at her indignant face.

"Then get comfortable," Hermione said icily, "because I won't be killing anyone tonight."

Hermione was the first to sit down. She honestly couldn't hold herself up anymore. Not even two seconds later, he joined her on the floor.

"I was beginning to think you were invincible," she teased.

"I am."

"Then get us out of this mess," she challenged.

"I will, through great patience and torturous conversation with you," Severus said in level tones, though his lips twitched upwards.

"Much as I would love to chat," she said in a voice that suggested otherwise, "Why don't you just kiss me so I can leave this freezing place.

"The question is, why don't you?"

"Ha-ha," Hermione said with a smirk, "Very funny."

"Am I so disgusting to you?" Severus questioned entirely serious.

Her face sobered and she shook her head. "I just told you to kiss me. Obviously it isn't totally disagreeable to me." She blushed suddenly and he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to her words.

She continued talking, answering his next question even before he asked it. "I was always taught as a child that it it's the man's place to make the first move. It might be old fashioned, but I'm not changing."

"I wouldn't want you to."

The beeping of Hermione's wristwatch broke the stillness that had settled over them, announcing that 11 o'clock had arrived. One more hour.

Hermione couldn't stop the shiver that went through her. The cold was starting to get under her skin, and it was freezing her very blood.

"Apparently when they charmed these stupid things, they didn't consider that someone might die of hypothermia while stuck under it," she complained.

"I don't think they believed anyone would wait it out," Severus replied.

"I guess they didn't account for us," she said laughingly, and her smile managed to procure an amused smirk.

Severus sighed in surrender as she quivered yet again from cold. He unclasped his cloak and held it out to her with a scowl.

"Here," he grunted, "You can stop your pitiful shaking."

"Oh no, I couldn't," Hermione protested, pushing the cloak away. "You'll get cold without it."

He grabbed her hand to stop her and draped the cloak across her shoulders.

"You forget," he said, "I live in the dungeons and am used to the chill. You need it more than I do, Hermione."

She smiled a shy kind of smile and grasped his hand briefly in hers.

"Thanks."

Severus chided himself for liking the sparkle in her eyes that accompanied her bell-like laughter. He had just finished telling a story about his first year teaching, and she practically in hysterics.

"Tell another," she said as she wiped away tears of mirth.

It scared him that Hermione wanted to know more about him. He didn't open up to many people, and all ready in the past two hours or so she knew more about him than virtually anyone. And he? He now understood there was more to her than knowing it all. Then again, he all ready knew that.

"And as Cinderella stepped down the stairs, everyone turned to look," Hermione said in an enchanted voice. They had begun sharing stories a while ago, and she was currently telling muggle fairy tales.

"Why would everyone stare at her?" Severus scoffed. "She can't be that beautiful."

"Do you want to hear the story or not?!" she asked, throwing him a glare in an attempt to silence him.

He glared in return, but continued, "I mean that's what's ridiculous about muggles. They have all these foolishly false ideas."

"The stories are inspired by wizards!'

Frowning, Severus motioned for her to continue.

"And as he leaned towards her, the clock struck midnight," Hermione said quietly, almost breathlessly.

Then, right on cue, the soft chimes of a clock sounded, signaling the dawn of a new day. Her eyes darted to hiS, surprised and pleased to see he hadn't leapt up immediately.

"And then what?" Severus questioned as he kept his gaze locked with hers.

"He kissed her," she whispered.

Hermione's eyes fluttered closed and Severus' lips found hers in a tender but powerful kiss. She felt his hand cup her face and she leaned unconsciously into his touch. Sadly, it lasted only seconds.

"Why couldn't you have done that when it mattered?" she asked as Severus pulled away.

He was silent for a moment, carefully contemplating his answer.

Finally, he spoke, "On the contrary, by waiting until the spell was over, I proved just how much it mattered.

Hermione visibly hesitated as his words sunk in. "You do realize that implies you wanted to kiss me and have probably put a least some forethought to it?"

"I am perfectly aware what my words could mean," he said evenly, keeping his face in its stony mask.

However, her face melted, and she smiled warmly.

"Kiss me again" Hermione said, but her voice was soft, pleading.

Severus brushed the back of his fingers down her cheek before catching her chin in his hand. Gently he lifted her face and brought his lips to hers once more.

Hermione's lips were soft and full, tasting deliciously of oranges and cloves. He held her tightly, afraid that when the moment was over, she would be gone forever. It was one beautiful dream and he felt he was about to wake up any minute.

Out of nowhere, the sound of frantic footsteps reached them. Minerva was looking for them.

"What now?" she whispered while leaning into his strong frame.

"I suppose we'll tell her the truth," Severus replied against her hair.

"The truth?" Hermione found it hard to believe he would ever admit to kissing a girl under the mistletoe, much less her.

He laughed and it vibrated in her chest.

"Yes, the truth," Severus said. "We got stuck under the mistletoe and we stubbornly waited for midnight."

"Oh," Hermione said and smiled conspiratorially.

He withdrew his arms from around her and gave her a last kiss.

"I'll talk and you can resentfully throw in your two cents worth."

The next day passed without ceremony. Hermione and Severus played the part of nemeses well. When any member of the staff mentioned the mistletoe, they were swiftly silenced by his glare and her snort of 'Oh Please'.

The night came upon Hogwarts and Severus found himself once again in the dark foyer. He leaned against the wall, staring thoughtfully at the mistletoe. He was startled from his reverie by first the hushed padding of feet followed by a flurry of robes and hair as he found his arms full.

"Hermione," Severus softly whispered, "I hoped I would find you here."

The days leading up to Christmas saw Hermione and Severus in the foyer, stealing kisses in the night. It was Christmas night, though, the last day the mistletoe would be up.

"We can't keep doing this," she murmured, "What happens when the mistletoe's gone? I'm tired of hiding this."

"I know," he said comfortingly while stroking her hair.

"What should we do?" Hermione asked.

"I'll figure something out," Severus promised. "For now, though, just enjoy the darkness and the time we've been given. After all, that's all anyone can ask for."

Her sad smile wasn't comforting, but it was enough.

New Year's Eve arrived and they still had yet to resolve their problem. They continued to meet nightly in the foyer, but as the days went on, it was growing increasingly harder to hide their secret.

Severus was grasping at straws, trying desperately to find a solution. His only idea was just going to have to work. It would have to be done that night.

The staff party was in full swing with music and drinks all around. Hermione and Severus were maintaining their usual distance while sharing the occasional longing look. At long last, the countdown to midnight began.

Hermione was aware of Severus slowly gaining his feet as the staff began shouting out, "10… 9… 8…"

He was looking at her again with that powerful burning in his eyes that she still had yet to fully understand.

"7… 6… 5…" He was crossing the room towards her with long purposeful steps.

At the sound of, "4… 3… 2…" Severus was at her side, smoothing her hair.

"1!!" The cheers arose as he simultaneously kissed her long and hard.

The noise died down, and the others were soon staring at them. He simply smiled happily.

"Happy New Year, Love."

A/N Hello everybody. I hope you liked this. I enjoyed writing it so very much. I was my first attempt at using a word limit. It was pretty hard keeping within 100 words on each of them. It was fun though so I might try it again. In case I wasn't clear enough, the mistletoe was enchanted so that whenever a boy and a gril were under it, they had to stay there until they kissed or until midnight came. I'm also assuming everyone knows the story of Cinderella. If not, google it. Merry Christmas to everyone and, of course, have a happy new year.