Pansy glared at Draco. ''It wouldn't kill you to look at me occasionally.''
''That's what Medusa said to her friends, and look at how that turned out,'' Draco drawled, not bothering to look up from his Herbology work.
''For Merlin's sake…you're so irritating sometimes!'' Pansy pushed her stool back, the scraping sound attracting the attention of Hermione Granger.
''And yet you keep trying to get him to notice you? If he's that irritating why don't you just leave him alone and stop annoying the rest of us?'' She glared over at Pansy.
Draco's head snapped up. ''And who asked your opinion Mudblood?''
''Someone needs to say this, for Merlin's sake! The pair of you just bitch at each other incessantly and it's bloody annoying to listen to!''
''Listen here…'' Draco snarled at her, making to stand up. Harry and Ron grabbed their wands, ready to jump to Hermione's defence, but Professor Sprout raised her head and looked crossly at the students.
''Will you all be quiet? I know it's Christmas soon, but this work needs to be done. Now, get on with it or you can go and sit outside in the snow and do it.''
Draco subsided back into his seat, glaring at Hermione. Pansy slumped back in her seat, arms crossed, a pout on her face. It simply wasn't fair, she thought, he paid that Mudblood more attention in the past five minutes then he had paid Pansy in five lessons! Slowly the pout left her lips as a plot began to form. If Draco liked the Mudblood so much, he could show the rest of the world his feelings. Pulling out her wand, she aimed a few well chosen charms at the sprig of mistletoe decorating the classroom and settled back down to her work, a malicious smirk on her face.
Hermione remained happily oblivious of what Pansy had done, and continued making her notes on the plant in front of her. She was so focused on her work that she didn't notice the tiny sprig of mistletoe growing much stronger and larger, spreading out across the roof of the greenhouse. Or rather, spreading out above her and Draco. The first she knew of it was when she felt a strong tendril snake around her waist and lift her straight off her seat. ''What's going on?'' she screamed, looking frantically around the classroom.
Professor Sprout jumped out of her seat and look at Hermione with wide eyes. ''Miss Granger, what did you do?''
''Me? Nothing! Make it stop!'' Hermione pushed frantically at the plant that was holding her, unable to move it at all. Her wand was lying tantalisingly on the desk, just out of reach. ''Please Professor, do something!''
Professor Sprout was tugging uselessly at the plant, unsure of what to do when ordinary mistletoe decided to mutate, when she heard another yell from another bench. Draco Malfoy was now held in midair too, pushing at the stem holding him in place. Pansy looked up at him with wide eyes, congratulating herself on what she had done.
Hermione and Draco looked at each other, unable to comprehend what was happening. Then, things kicked up another level. No longer satisfied with suspending them in midair, the mistletoe began twisting the huge tendrils holding them in place, bringing them closer and closer together. Immediately, the pair of them increased their struggling, Draco punching at the tendrils, Hermione desperately sinking her nails into it.
But it was all to no avail. They were brought closer and closer together, until they were breathing each other's air. They pulled back as much as they could, only to feel smaller twigs pressing their shoulders and heads forward. They were so close that Draco could feel Hermione's panicked breathing on his lips. They were so close that all Hermione could see was the blue-grey of his eyes. They were so close that if she just moved her lips slightly they would be kissing…
She quashed the thought straight away. ''Professor!''
The strangled cry for help seemed to jolt the teacher out of the daze that the entire class was in. She aimed her wand and sent a little spark flying at the mistletoe. It reacted with a jerk, dropping the two students to the floor. However, it immediately made another lunge for them, causing them to scurry to one side. Professor Sprout shot another load of sparks at the plant and watched as it made another lunge.
''It's only interested in you two…leave the classroom! Go on, leave!''
Hermione shot a panicked look at her teacher – leave the class? She had never been thrown out in her life! But one more lunge from the mistletoe was enough to convince her that she should go, and she and Draco were sprinting out of the door.
As soon as they left the class, the mistletoe fell still. Professor Sprout breathed out heavily and brushed a speck of dust off her shoulder and then looked around at her class. ''Well? What are you looking at? Honestly, it's like you've never seen a mistletoe act like that before!''
The class turned back to their work and the teacher sat back down at her desk. The mistletoe waited a second, and then began to extend its tendrils again, creeping out of the open greenhouse door, seeking Hermione and Draco.
The pair in question had stopped running once they had got one hundred meters away from the greenhouse. Hermione stood with her hands on her hips. ''What did you do?'' she asked fiercely, panting slightly. The cold air was bringing the blood to her cheeks, and making her lips look almost scarlet against her pale skin. Draco looked at her and wondered why he hadn't noticed how plump her lower lip was before.
''What did I do? Whatever Granger, you're the one who would have wanted this.'' He shoved his hands deep in his pockets, looking around at the wintry landscape. Snow was resting lightly on the ground and more was already beginning to fall from the iron grey sky.
''I would want to be chased out of my class by a freak mistletoe? Get real Malfoy!'' She turned around and looked back at the greenhouse wistfully.
''Oh for Merlin's sake, I'm not standing out here for the next hour with some pathetic girl who isn't grateful to have got out of some boring class.'' He began to walk away, his feet crunching in the snow. Suddenly, his foot sank lower than it should have. He frowned and looked down, just as mistletoe wriggled up over his foot and coiled its way up his entire body. ''Granger, it followed us! Do something!''
''I…'' Hermione looked around in panic. ''I didn't have a chance to get my wand! Hang on, I'll go and get someone…'' Before she could even wonder why she had offered to help Draco Malfoy, she was pulled off her feet again and dragged towards the struggling boy.
The plant pushed them together and immediately wrapped more shoots around their waists, leaving them tied tightly together. Hermione looked down in horror. ''What the hell? Oh Merlin, get away from me!''
''I'm trying Granger, believe me, I'm trying!'' Draco tried to pull the vines away from his body, to no avail. And then, things began to get weird.
Hermione placed her hands on his chest.
Draco gasped. He could feel how cold her fingers were through his shirt, and he wondered if she could feel how much his heartbeat had picked up. And then he realised that she was trying to use him as something to push away from. He looked at her, entranced as she arched her back, trying to push away from him. Since when had those been there? He smirked slightly, as she pushed slightly harder.
''Stop staring at me!'' she growled, noticing where he was looking. ''This situation is hideous enough, for Merlin's sake, do something to stop it.''
''Clearly I haven't been looking at you properly Granger.''
''I don't want you looking at me like that, so stop!''
''Make me!''
Hermione held still for a minute, her breath rising in a frosty plume. Snow poured down harder, landing in her hair and eyelashes. There was absolutely nothing she could do to stop him, but she could definitely carry on pushing. Maybe if she put enough strain on it, the plant would give way…she pushed again, knowing in her heart of hearts that there was no way that she would get away like this. She paused for a minute, trying to regroup her thoughts, but then…it was so difficult to think when she could smell Draco's aftershave, crisp and clear against the blur of her mind. And his neck was on her eyelevel and it looked so kissable. She shut her eyes tightly, trying to block out what was happening.
Draco looked at her. There was a single snowflake on her eyelash that was slowly melting. Without even thinking about what he was doing, he wrenched his hands free and cupped them around her face, and slowly guided her lips to his.
Hermione didn't even try and pull away. Everything seemed to fall into place. She was so cold, and his body was so warm, and his lips were moving so perfectly against hers that it didn't make any sense to stop him. She ran her hands back through his hair, amazed at how soft it was. Clasping her hands around his neck, she didn't even notice as the pressure around her waist slackened and something fell to her feet.
And that was how the rest of their class found them as they came out, thirty minutes later from their Herbology class. Draco and Hermione, both pale from the cold, desperately clinging to each other, feasting on each other's lips. Pansy gasped in horror – what the hell had happened?
It took an inordinate amount of coughing from the class for Hermione and Draco to realise that they were no longer alone. They jumped apart, noticing for the first time that the mistletoe was no longer holding them together.
Hermione managed to pull herself together first. ''It made us. It pulled us together and wouldn't let us go until we did.''
Draco looked at her, her lips flushed dark red from kissing him. ''She's right. You all know that we hate each other. It was a matter of necessity.'' No need to tell them that the only thought in his mind when he kissed her was to see if her lips were really as soft as they looked.
Hermione snatched her bag back off a friend and began to walk away, pressing her fingertips to her mouth. The thought of Draco's lips against hers, of his chest pressing up against her threatened to overwhelm her, and she was forced to look over her shoulder.
Draco was staring at her across the snowy grounds, his eyes thoughtful. Bending down, when he didn't think anyone was looking, he grabbed a sprig of the mistletoe, scribbled a note on some parchment and sent the pair zooming off with a charm.
Hermione opened her hand to find the mistletoe between her fingers. The note read simply :
Meet me under the mistletoe tonight?
AN: Hey everyone – just a little Christmas offering! The idea for this came from Forever His, so I hope this lives up to her expectations! Anyway, review if you want to – have a great Christmas everyone! Petitesorciere xxx