"It's strange," Sirius complained.

"Tell me, how is dating your brother strange?" Remus asked, crossing his arms and pinning his mate with a searching stare. "I love him, he loves me. End of story."

"It's strange because he's my younger brother and he wasn't supposed to get a boyfriend before me."

Remus's stare faltered and he threw his head back, laughing loudly. "When you think about it that way, it is rather weird."

Sirius pouted. "I liked it better when you weren't dating Reg. You were nicer."

"Hey, don't whine," James intervened. "You're not the only single one, Sirius."

"That's right, Jamie," Sirius said, brightening up. "At least we have each other!"

"What about me?" asked Peter.

There was an awkward silence before Sirius broke by slinging an arm around both of his mates' shoulders and declaring, "Remus, you may have a boyfriend, but I have two!"

"I knew it!" came a triumphant shout. Twisting his head and peering out of the corner of his eye revealed to be Marlene McKinnon, who was grinning at — James's heart skipped a beat — Lily Evans. "Pay up, Lily!"

Lily rolled her eyes, tossing back her red hair. "Hold up," she argued, "I'm certain they're his platonic boyfriends because there's no way in Merlin's name James is interested. Right, James?"

James jumped and Lily gave him a little knowing smile, aware that he'd been listening all along. "Yeah, that's right," he said, "Not interested in Sirius. Just mates."

They entered the castle, dragging snow in with their feet, which would surely earn them a scolding from the caretaker, but he wasn't around at the moment. Sirius maintained his hold on James and Peter, despite James's feeble attempts to shove his arm off.

Until Sirius ran into a solid, invisible wall at the entryway to the Great Hall and bounced back, taking his mates with him. Remus, who stood to one side, snickered.

Sirius let go of James and Peter (at last! freedom!) and tried to walk through the entryway again. Same result. He poked a finger through the entry and it met resistance. Remus, finally taking pity on him, pointed up.

"Mistletoe," he said smugly, and there were simultaneous groans from the group, including from Lily and Marlene.

"Wait, what kind of mistletoe?" Sirius asked, apparently still confused.

"Let's find out. Kiss me on the cheek." He tapped his cheek and strode forward, meeting Sirius under the mistletoe. Sirius did a double-take.

"I can't kiss you!"

"Relax, it's a kiss on the cheek, not a snog," Remus said dryly. "I would never cheat on your brother with you. Just kiss my bloody cheek and be quick about it."

"All right." Looking hesitant, Sirius pressed his lips against Remus's cheek and jumped back with the expression of someone who'd swallowed a toad. He poked his finger through the entry again and sighed with relief as it went through.

"Thank Merlin," both of them said, shot each other looks of surprise, and Sirius went into the hall first, followed by Remus.

"Well," said Lily, breaking the silence. "We know what we have to do. I'll kiss Pettigrew, and —"

James opened his mouth to protest, but Marlene beat him to it. "I'll kiss Pettigrew," she said firmly. Peter squeaked, his face coloring. "James is like a brother to me."

"Are you kidding me? Brothers and sisters kiss each other on the cheek all the time," Lily argued, but even before she had finished her sentence, Marlene had grabbed Peter by the wrist and dragged him under the mistletoe. She planted a hasty, sloppy kiss on his cheek and Peter just about exploded.

"Well done, Wormy," said James, practically beaming. "Go on, now."

Lily glared at Marlene's retreating back. "So much for friendship," she muttered, not looking at James.

James's heart pounded madly in his chest, as Lily looked at the mistletoe, and then at him, coming to the same conclusion he had.

"I have to kiss you."

"Just on the cheek," he said.

"But still…"

"But what? It's just a kiss on the cheek. Not a snog." He smiled to himself.

Lily looked conflicted. "...Fine," she said, after a momentary pause. "I'll kiss you on the cheek. But that's it."

"That's it," he agreed, and to his surprise, Lily stepped up next to him, facing him. "Don't try anything," she warned, "or I'll hex you till you're black and blue."

"Could you make that gold, to match my eyes?" he joked, trying to ease the tension, and once again to his astonishment, Lily smiled.

"That depends," she said. "I'm going to kiss you now."

James nodded and his head, exposing his cheek. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lily moving in, and then he saw a fly buzzing just above her head. The little bugger was trying to go for the mistletoe. Turning his head, he began, "There's a f—"

But he was cut off. By her lips. On his lips. It felt... nice. Right. He expected Lily to pull away, to slap him, or make good on her promise to hex him.

Lily's eyes widened and to his great surprise and pleasure, she didn't do any of these things. Instead, she stayed exactly where she was — frozen, with her lips on his. James waited for her to push him away, but she didn't.

He pulled back and Lily snapped out of her daze, bringing her fingers to her lips and her eyes far away. Certain he was bright red, James ducked his head and walked into the Great Hall, not believing his good fortune.


Lily, although she knew she could move, couldn't move. She stood under the mistletoe for a few moments longer after James had left, her fingers touching his lips. She'd kissed him. And even though he hadn't kissed her back — she was shocked by his gentlemanly restraint — it had been nice. Right. She couldn't deny it had felt good.

Since when did she like kissing the incorrigible prat? One moment, she'd been ready to hex him bald, and the next, she had let him kiss her. Or she'd kissed him.

Bloody mistletoe.

But she needed to kiss him one more time to make sure these feelings weren't real. If she kissed him again, it would clear the air. If she kissed him again, she could make sure it had been just the magic of the mistletoe and there was nothing else. She didn't fancy the boy.

Seems to me as though you're just making excuses.


James hadn't quite recovered from the kiss — how could he forget a kiss from the girl he'd fancied for years? — but he was sure he wouldn't get a second one. He would just have to treasure this one memory and lock it away in his mind because it wouldn't happen again. He was laughing with his mates about how Peter, who had been quite flustered after Marlene's kiss, had faceplanted into a bowl of porridge, and not thinking about the kiss.

Until a hand landed on his shoulder, tapping it. He turned around, felt a sharp tug on his collar, and he found himself privy to another kiss. He glimpsed red hair and felt familiar lips on his own, the same pair he'd been attached to moments ago.

Lily.

She was kissing him.

They didn't have much of an audience, everyone else was still making their way back from Hogsmeade, but whoever was there wolf-whistled and cheered. Sirius himself was whistling. But Lily didn't release him. She was still kissing him.

Regaining his senses, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulled her closer, and kissed her back.


It had all been in the spur of the moment. She'd marched up to him, tapped his shoulder. When he'd spun around, his gold-green eyes wide, she grabbed him by the collar and kissed him.

What she hadn't expected was the surge of desire in her body as he began kissing her back, his lips moving in tandem with hers, and Merlin he was a fantastic kisser. He tugged her forward and she went without resistance because holy shit, kissing him was glorious.


They were interrupted as Sirius whistled again, and both of them realized what they were doing and where they were doing it. James abruptly released Lily and she stood before him, flushed and lips were swollen, but still looking as beautiful as ever.

"Stuff it, Padfoot," James said through his heavy breathing.

Sirius frowned. James waited for him to complain or act wounded, but he was taken aback when Sirius moaned, "Dammit, now it's just Wormy and me! How could you cheat on us, Prongs?"

"Lily's a better kisser," replied James unabashedly. "She's got you beat, mate." Lily's blush darkened and Sirius scowled.

"Bloody birds," he lamented.

James was about to respond when Lily seized his wrist and pulled him to his feet. "Come with me," she said, gazing up at him imploringly. "We need to talk."

Something in her eyes told him that she didn't intend to just talk, and the way everyone smirked indicated that she hadn't been very subtle about her intentions. Lily rolled her eyes and started walking, and after a moment, he followed her.

"Despite what everyone thinks, I did come out here to talk to you," she said the instant they exited the Great Hall. They stood just next to the mistletoe so they wouldn't block the entrance.

"Why did you come back?" he asked her, searching her impassive face.

"Because I needed to talk to you."

He raised an eyebrow. "That didn't seem like talking to me. Why did you really come back?"

"...I wanted to try something," she admitted. "I thought the mistletoe was playing tricks on me when we kissed, but I needed to check if I really liked kissing you, or it was just the mistletoe."

"And?"

"I found my answer," she whispered, drawing closer to him. "I really, really like kissing you."

"I really, really like kissing you too."

And when they kissed, stars exploded behind his eyelids.


Whoever had put up that mistletoe, James hoped they never took it down, because it gave him an excuse to kiss his lovely girlfriend.

Not that she minded.


1711 words

Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:

Funfair:

Christmas Eve Boxes - Pyjamas - Christmas Pudding Pyjamas: (action) Kissing

Snow Globe Maker - Whomping Willow: (era) Marauder; Sirius Black's Motorbike: (character) Sirius Black; Hogwarts Castle: (location) Hogwarts Castle

Ugly Sweaters - Blue - Prompt: (era) - Marauder

Treasure Map - Dialogue: "Why did you really come back?"

Advent Calendar - Door: Characters - James

Nativity Play - The Wise Men - (color) Gold

Holiday Crackers - Jokes - "Are you kidding me?"

Naughty or Nice - Naughty - 30. James Potter

Hot Chocolate Station - Unicorn Hot Chocolate: (word) bright; Ground Cinnamon: (pairing) RemusRegulus

Fill a Christmas Stocking - Small Bottles of Hot Sauce: (color) red

Write a Letter to Santa - Merry Christmas, Santa: (plot point) a kiss under the mistletoe (1)

Snowball Fight - James vs Lily: [action] Kissing

Big Dinner Bash - Potatoes - Boiled: Kissing under mistletoe

Toy Making - Book - [Word] Beautiful

Christmas Party - Feliz Navidad - José Feliciano / (object) mistletoe

Paper Snowflakes - 1st Fold - Lily Evans

New Years Resolutions - Cook one new thing each week: (setting) the Great Hall

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Autumn Seasonal:

Chemistry Week - 81. Thallium: Triumphant

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Others:

Sticker Club - Dragon (Shrek) - Plot point: An interrupted kiss

Pop Figures - Television - 121. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: (color) Red

1000 - 40. (word) Strange

366 - 161. Incorrigible