"Mistletoe Misdemeanor"

I stared out over the customers of the Three Broomsticks and held my head high.

I always held my head high. I am Isaiah Gladenly, son of Elijah and Marian Gladenly. I am a Pureblood- the right kind, mind you, not like the Slytherin gits- and am proud of it.

So when she came in, I continued to hold my head high. I, after all, did nothing wrong.

She was a half blood, daughter of a witch and a muggle. We met when we were younger, and I immediately deemed that she needed the guidance of a pureblood to help her adjust to proper wizard culture. We became friends; regardless of my status as a Hufflepuff and her's as a Gryffindor, which meant that we had no classes together. It was proper to have friends from other houses, after all. I met her friends, a pureblood (Mary Macdonald), a half blood (Annette Murray), and two muggleborns (Lily Evans and Laura Adley). After initially trying to help Annette, Lily, and Laura, I decided to stop. Whenever I offered knowledge that only a pureblood like myself would know, Laura would raise an eyebrow and Annette would look away. Lily always seemed to be irritated with me, and she only seemed to tolerate me because I was her friend.

But then friendship turned to more.

I looked across at my ex-girlfriend and grew angry that she did not look at me. She was walking over to the table set for five, where Lily Evans and James Potter already sat.

"Hey Cathy!" Lily called and waved.

Cathy. I always thought that was ridiculous. Her name is not Cathy. Her proper name is Catherine, but only I seemed to call her that. She should be proud of her name; it was, after all, the name her parents gave her.

Catherine Mary White.

I missed being able to call her that. I missed being able to kiss her when she would roll her eyes.

This predicament was NOT my fault. It was her own.

She should've been more careful; thoughtful. Hogwarts was a mistletoe breeding ground during the Yuletide season. I'm careful to avoid them (unless I'm alone with her. Private matters are private.)

She was not that careful.

Peter Pettigrew.

Out of all the bloke's at Hogwarts, it had to be the lumpy, short half blood who caused trouble, and had watery eyes.

She should've been more careful.

Catherine got stuck under an enchanted mistletoe with Peter Pettigrew and had to kiss him to escape.

Catherine Mary White cheated me, Isaiah Richard Gladenly.

I am a gentleman, however, even if she wasn't ready to play the role of a lady faithful to her man. So I told her it was over with as much courtesy as I could. My only hint of shame towards the gesture was that I acted the coward. I could not see her expression; it would be too painful. I turned and walked away.

I could very well see her expression now. Her lips were moving and then she smiled as Lily Evans responded to whatever she had said. My best guess was that Catherine was wondering where Laura and Annette were; they were nowhere to be seen.

But then Catherine turned around and noticed me staring at her.

The smile slipped from her face. It was replaced by a flash of pain before turning neutral and apathetic.

She turned, said something to Lily Evans, and began to walk towards the back.

I was halfway out of my chair before I comprehended what I was doing.

No, I sternly told myself.

Myself, obviously, didn't agree.

I followed her and met her in the back hallway that led towards the loos.

"Hello," I said, trying to sound polite rather than bitter.

She looked at me and asked quietly, "What do you want?"

I hesitated. "To see how you're doing."

"'How I'm doing'?" she repeated. Her eyes flashed. "Honestly?!"

Yes, I wanted to tell her. I missed her.

She took a step backwards and I took one forwards. She tried to distance herself farther from me; I tried to close the gap. However, we both discovered that neither of us could move. I looked around, trying to find the perpetrator. I was a Prefect- someone couldn't do this to me...

"Bugger."

Catherine's voice was loud. I turned to see her looking up.

Damn.

An innocent looking piece of mistletoe hung from the ceiling above our heads.

We looked at each other. Dread filled my gut. Catherine folded her arms together across her chest and leaned backwards.

"There's no way that I'm kissing you."

Her words were layered with emotion. Defiance, anger, indignation. I wanted to grab her and take away her pain. But that right was no longer mine. She should've been more careful.

"I don't want to kiss you, either," I told her loudly. Realizing that I was looking at my feet, I raised my head proudly.

She did too. Bloody Gryffindors. Think they're completely invincible.

"Good," she said, extremely angry. "I never liked kissing you."

I knew she was trying to anger me; to make me do something irrational. She wasn't going to anger me; it was her own anger talking now. Well, I wasn't going to give into emotion like she was. I am Isaiah Gladenly, a well raised adult, and would act like one.

"I guessed that's why you kissed Pettigrew then," I told her cooly. "Because you had to see if he was better."

I mentally flinched. These words sounded more childish said out loud than they had in my head. Her head shot up, probably wrenching her neck. Her eyes narrowed to infinitesimal slits.

"Do you still think I wanted to kiss him?!" she exclaimed.

"You should've been more careful," I fired back.

"Careful?" she mocked. "Just like how our carefulness got us into this situation!" Catherine pointed at the mistletoe above our heads.

I stared at her as those words pierced me. She used the word "carefulness" with such sarcasm that there was no guessing that she meant the opposite. Carelessness. No. I am Isaiah Gladenly, and carelessness did not go with how I was brought up. My chest felt heavy. She was right; I had been careless for once. My cheeks felt warm.

She wore a rather triumphant expression as she watched me.

"Catherine..."I murmured. One second of carelessness...I had been wrong. I deflated a bit. "I'm...I'm sorry."

She beamed at me, leaned forward, and whispered, "Isaiah. Mistletoe, remember?"

I grinned and leaned forward.

Author's Note:

I have always thought that with the anti-muggleborn prejudice, there would also be the opposite prejudice (where they are proud to befriend muggleborns, but still end up acting somewhat prejudice). Isaiah is the perfect example of this. He's also pompous and supposed to irritate you. The whole point of Catherine's character is that she rounds him out a bit.