"Mistletoe," said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clumb of white berries placed over Harry's head. He jumped out from under it. "Good thinking," said Luna seriously. "It's often infested with nargles."-- From Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , Chapter 21.
DECEMBER 21
Draco Malfoy clearly had no idea why Harry Potter invited him to the holiday party. I didn't either, actually.
Draco had ended up on our side in the end, but no one was quite sure how that happened. When questioned at the time, Draco would only say that Harry was in desperate need of some wardrobe advice. Draco was just the fancy wizard for that job. But nothing about Harry's not-so-genteel shabbiness changed, while the tide of the war did. And that was due to Draco's influence, so perhaps there was more to him than just those annoying smirks.
It seemed unlikely that a polished and well-mannered wizard could falter at the festooned doorway, no matter how garish. I saw his hesitation in an instant before my eye caught a flash of red-on-orange at the far edge of the room. That always presaged trouble these days, so I stopped looking at Draco. I saw Ginny grab Ron's shoulder and gesture near his ear. I couldn't hear over the music, but their wicked grins boded ill. Without the threat of Molly Weasley to ride herd on them like an Australian sheepdog, these youngest of her brood had grown (even more) inconsiderate.
It was just this lack of consideration that had me standing in a corner near the door, hoping candlelight on tinsel garlands would act like a disillusionment charm. Ron kept assuming that I was somehow his property. We were not dating, and he didn't do any of the nice things like bringing me a glass of eggnog (not that it would be safe to drink Ron's special 'nog). He just glared at any man who dared approach me. So no one danced with me all evening. The annual repetition was getting annoying and I'd told Harry that what I most wanted for Christmas, Solstice, whatever, was to never have to attend these parties of his again. It hadn't worked though. Harry just laughed and said it was my duty as his friend, so here I am again. Bored, lonely, and dreading having to fend off a slobbering Ron later this evening.
Harry had been on his way to greet Draco when Ron waylaid him. It was a trick of acoustics, but I heard Ron tell Harry to make sure to get a good snog in while Malfoy was under the mistletoe. Harry took a step back and shook his head at Ron. Harry's body language was clearly indicating barely polite tolerance of an ill-behaved guest. He wasn't smiling either. I thought it might become more interesting than the usual party if Harry actually told Ron off. At least then I might be able to get a beverage to numb the boredom without running a Weasley-gauntlet. I am sure it was Ginny's gestured suggestion to Ron which had prompted his comment to Harry. Ginny had this insane idea that since Harry wasn't falling all over her, he must be gay. The magical world probably has some derogatory name for it. Knowing Ron and the other Gryffindor guys, it's surely a Quidditch metaphor.
Draco hadn't gone very far, he was still hovering in the archway. I saw Harry's eyes take in the sudden shift of people toward Draco and flick to the lintel over Draco's head.
Uncertainty about his welcome was visible on Draco's face as I watched them both. Harry was clearly trying to be nice and keep the decorations from making the situation worse. The blond wizard was about to be mobbed by the light-headed, sticky-pawed bimbos that no one invites to parties but who appear anyway, attracted by any gathering with famous or wealthy men. I'd seen empty-headed witches execute rugby-style scrimmages with full-contact tackles at some of this year's parties whenever Harry stood next to a plant of any sort. After mauling Harry, the witches would all giggle and claim not to know the difference between poinsettias and mistletoe. Draco might not be the big conquering hero, but he had galleons enough to attract his share. Witches would be niffling all over him any second now.
Harry strode forward and quickly spoke, "Malfoy." This was accompanied by another eye flick, this time with raised eyebrows too. "Mistletoe!" Harry warned.
I don't think Harry expected what happened. I know I never would have come up with it if you'd asked me what a confunded were-hippogriff would do after stepping on a banana peel.
Draco screamed. At first it sounded like nonsense, then it was just something I thought I'd never hear. "ArRh! Nargles! Get them off me!"
His face turned toward me in complete desperation, which was something else I never thought I'd see. I guess my vantage point wasn't as hidden from the doorway.
"Don't let them sting me, Granger!"
I blinked and froze. So did Harry and everyone else. At least it left a clear path.
"I'm all-urgent! Please! Please... " He trailed away at the end and collapsed.
Unbelievably, his hair and lips were turning a matching shade of bright sky blue.
All Urgent!?
Oh.
I must have subconsciously recognized a medical emergency (we'd all learned to judge what needed immediate attention during the war), because I'd already started toward him when my parsing caught up with reality. He's allergic, and it looked serious. I told myself to wonder how someone could be allergic to something that did not exist later. For now, Draco's misnomer was apt. The situation certainly was all urgent. I needed to get him free of the nargles, then St. Mungo's could deal with the allergic reaction. My sister was allergic to bee stings, so I knew time was not on Draco's side.
It was one of those magic moments (oh! the irony) where time seems to stop. I could hear Luna Lovegood's voice in my mind nattering on about how to disperse a cloud of nargles. Nargles are repelled by true affection and attracted to nervousness and lust. What would show my affection for Malfoy? Wait. Did I feel affection for him? Well, yes. Draco had earned his place with us during the war, and he had ventured onto Harry's turf tonight and been unintentionally attacked. Plus he had turned to me for help. How could I refuse that?
St. Mungo's would hardly be equipped to deal with an infestation of nargles attacking nervous patients; they certainly would not thank me if a bunch got loose in the emergency ward. Whatever I did had to be effective and fast. Draco was unconscious but visibly still breathing. The blue coloring wasn't the blocked-breathing that my sister got, but some nargle venom reaction. It still couldn't be good though.
What would work? I could hug him, but that might not be affectionate enough. So I confidently kissed him, like I'd been doing it for years and keeping in mind all the good things I'd noticed about him and his efforts. That created enough nargle-free space for me to Disapparate us to St. Mungo's.
Wizards with vivid reactions to nargles must be a fairly common holiday problem, because the mediwizards fixed him right up. When Draco awoke, he smiled at me. And let's just say Draco's gratitude was my pleasure.
JANUARY 3
Harry had sent an owl announcing his engagement to Luna and suggesting that we all get together after the holidays. We had brunch New Year's Day and Harry explained what happened while I had been with Draco at St. Mungo's.
Harry had heard Draco screaming about nargles and realized that Luna wasn't just a nutter. We'd all thought she was more than strange, but I'd never thought that this opinion would keep Harry from the witch he truly wanted. Maybe it just took someone drawing the connection for him. He had walked out on his own party and returned sometime later, hand-in-hand with Luna. Right there in front of everyone, he asked her to marry him. I imagine it must have shocked everyone, since they'd never even dated. I would certainly pay cold coin to see someone's pensieve memory of Ginny's face at that moment, which was swiftly followed by her and Ron's sullen departure. When Luna agreed, offering Harry her necklace of oddments in lieu of a ring, it turned into a spontaneous engagement party.
Harry's explanation as to what actually convinced him to seek Luna out and woo her was a jumble of rationale that could keep a psychologist busy for years. I had to keep my lip bitten to stop laughing at the Freudian mental picture when Harry explained how he hadn't been interested in Ginny because she looked too much like his mum. In the end, he decided that he was willing to risk everything to find a witch who had been willing to say what she thought was important, even when it was unpopular. He smiled at Luna as he said it. Harry's always been a bit slow to catch emotional things. Luna would be someone who could keep him happy without grounding him.
Harry saw me smiling there with Draco beside me and looked relieved. Harry finally admitted that he had invited all the Slytherins to the party after hearing why I was reluctant to attend. He had not realized how intrusive Ron was being since the behavior hadn't changed since Hogwarts. (Exactly my problem with it; some of us grew up.) "I didn't want you to start thinking it was a choice between Ron or nobody," Harry said. He nodded respectfully to Draco and concluded, "No one pushes a Slytherin around. I knew some of them would talk to you at least. I thought that might be enough to break Ron's strangle-hold over our other friends."
I'm not sure where Draco and I will end up, but a nice Christmas snog and freedom from Ron's constant pressure was the best gift I've ever gotten from Harry. Better than a book--- I buy those for myself after all--- I wonder if Draco has a library...